Trump and Xi clash over AI at tense US state visit

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President Donald Trump said he has forged a "truly great friendship" with Xi Jinping, as the Chinese president’s State Visit gets underway.

The White House has rolled out the red carpet for the visiting world leader, with Trump and Xi expected to tackle of range of issues from international trade and security to AI.

In a statement on his arrival Wednesday, Xi voiced hope for a more stable relationship with the United States, saying Beijing and Washington should be “partners, not rivals” and that the “historical logic of peaceful coexistence” between the two countries had not changed.

Ahead of the meeting, Trump said artificial intelligence - which he is attempting to rebrand as “Super Intelligence” will be a “big topic of discussion” during the visit.

“A big day with President Xi of China. Super Intelligence (SI) will be a big topic of discussion, but I want to leave it exactly where it is," Trump wrote in a social media post, using his preferred term for artificial intelligence.

“That is China’s position also. Our guardrail is the DOJ!” Trump said, referring to the Department of Justice.

Xi's visit to Washington comes after public alarm about the potential danger posed by AI was raised this month when an Anthropic researcher warned that people building it believed the technology could wipe out humanity by the end of the decade.

Trump has so far resisted concerns about AI and has largely embraced tech companies in his second term. He said last week that critics of AI development were "playing right into the hands of a lot of people that don't want to see it happen, and that could be political people, that could also be China."

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