Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to attend White House dinner for Xi Jinping

Satya Nadella is set to attend a White House state dinner honoring Chinese President Xi Jinping, joining a roster of tech executives whose presence underscores just how central artificial intelligence has become to the US-China relationship. The dinner, scheduled for September 24, 2026, represents Xi’s first state visit to the White House since 2015, when he was feted by the Obama administration at a lavish affair that also featured Silicon Valley’s biggest names. A guest list that reads like an AI summit Nadella won’t be the only tech titan breaking bread at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The guest list includes Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Sundar Pichai, along with AI-focused leaders like Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and OpenAI’s Sam Altman. The evening is expected to touch on AI safety, US chip export controls, and the broader contours of technological competition between the two largest economies on earth. History repeating, with higher stakes The 2015 state dinner for Xi during the Obama era featured a similar cast of characters. Nadella was seated at the head table alongside Apple’s Tim Cook and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg. Export controls on advanced semiconductor technology have become a ...