Nadella, Pichai Among Tech Leaders at Trump State Dinner for Xi
Washington — Indian-origin technology executives Satya Nadella, Sundar Pichai and Sanjay Mehrotra were among the prominent business leaders invited to President Donald Trump’s state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping at the White House.
The guest list included executives from some of the world’s largest technology companies as the United States and China explored areas of cooperation on artificial intelligence while continuing to compete in advanced computing and semiconductors.
Nadella is chairman and chief executive officer of Microsoft, while Pichai leads Google and its parent company, Alphabet. Mehrotra is chief executive officer of memory-chip maker Micron Technology.
Second Lady Usha Vance also attended with Vice President JD Vance. Sangeeta Mehrotra, Sanjay Mehrotra’s wife, was included on the White House guest list.
Other technology executives invited to the dinner included Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook, Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman and OpenAI President and Co-Founder Greg Brockman.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Tesla and SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk, Zoom Chief Executive Eric Yuan, Qualcomm Chief Executive Cristiano Amon and Dell Chief Executive Michael Dell were also among the invitees.
The guest list also included Google Co-Founder Sergey Brin, AMD Chief Executive Lisa Su and David Sacks, Co-Chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
The strong representation from the technology industry came as Trump and Xi identified artificial intelligence as an important area in relations between the world’s two largest economies.
During welcoming remarks Thursday, Trump said the two leaders would discuss security, technology and superintelligence.
“The decisions we make in these areas today can promote peace and prosperity for decades and decades to come,” Trump said.
Xi said China and the United States share responsibility for managing the development of artificial intelligence.
“Both China and the United States are major powers in artificial intelligence; we have the capability and the responsibility to develop and manage AI effectively, ensuring that its development remains under human control and benefits the people,” he said.
The dinner also drew executives from banking, manufacturing, aerospace, energy and pharmaceuticals, including JPMorgan Chief Executive Jamie Dimon, BlackRock Chief Executive Larry Fink, Boeing Chief Executive Kelly Ortberg and Lockheed Martin Chief Executive Jim Taiclet.
General Motors Chief Executive Mary Barra, Pfizer Chief Executive Albert Bourla, ExxonMobil Chief Executive Darren Woods and GE Aerospace Chief Executive Larry Culp were also invited.
Senior Trump administration officials attended, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
Xi’s delegation included Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and Zheng Shanjie, Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission.
The dinner followed a day of ceremonial events and closed-door meetings at the White House. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump welcomed Xi and Peng Liyuan at the North Portico shortly after 7 p.m.
The menu combined American ingredients with Chinese influences and began with the sparkling wine served during the “Toast to Peace” between President Richard Nixon and Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai in Beijing in 1972.
Technology remains a major area of competition between Washington and Beijing, with disputes involving advanced semiconductors, chipmaking equipment, artificial intelligence models and access to computing power.
Nadella, Pichai and Mehrotra were born in India before building their careers in the United States, placing three prominent members of the Indian diaspora among the political and corporate leaders attending the dinner. (Source: IANS)
