Behind the Trump-Xi State Dinner: Nvidia to Apple, No Anthropic
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- Lebih dari 100 tamu menghadiri jamuan makan malam kenegaraan di Washington, didominasi pejabat pemerintah dan petinggi korporasi Amerika Serikat.
- Delegasi China hanya diwakili tujuh pejabat yang mendampingi Presiden Xi Jinping, sementara sejumlah CEO teknologi terkemuka seperti Jensen Huang dan Tim Cook duduk semeja dengan kedua kepala negara.
- Tidak ada perwakilan dari perusahaan rintisan AI Anthropic, sementara raksasa teknologi lain seperti Meta dan OpenAI hadir, memicu spekulasi arah kebijakan teknologi Washington.
The state dinner in Washington on Thursday (25/9/2026) became a stage for diplomacy, bringing together more than a hundred prominent figures from the United States government and business world with a relatively lean Chinese delegation. The guest list released by the White House showed a dominance of corporate executives, while from the Chinese side only seven officials accompanied President Xi Jinping and Madame Peng Liyuan.
The presence of top executives from technology and financial companies at this dinner marked an effort by both countries to ease trade tensions that had recently flared. The main table was filled by President Donald Trump and Xi Jinping along with a number of big names: Tim Cook of Apple, Jensen Huang of Nvidia and his wife, Elon Musk, and Lisa Su of AMD. Representatives from Meta and OpenAI were also present, but there was no representative from Anthropic—an artificial intelligence company long known for being vocal on AI security.
In his remarks, Xi stated that the talks with Trump had "added new substance" to the relationship between the two countries. Trump responded by giving a bald eagle statue as a souvenir. This moment was Xi's first state visit to the United States since the era of Barack Obama's administration more than a decade ago—a signal that the world's two largest economies are trying to stabilize a relationship that had fallen into a trade war and technological tensions.
Interestingly, not a single Chinese company was on the guest list. Previously, CNBC reported that sources familiar with the event preparations were unaware of any Chinese companies invited to join Xi's entourage. This raises questions about the extent of the Chinese private sector's involvement in the two countries' economic diplomacy.
"The talks with Trump have added new substance to the US-China relationship," Xi Jinping said in his dinner remarks, as quoted from the official translation.
For Indonesia, this dinner is not merely ceremonial. As a major trading partner of both countries, the stability of US-China relations has a direct impact on investment flows, commodity prices, and regional supply chains. When Washington and Beijing sit at the same table, the signal sent to global markets can influence investor decisions in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia. The presence of technology CEOs also indicates that semiconductors, AI, and the digital economy will be key agenda items in future bilateral relations.
The guest list that excluded Anthropic—a company that has been outspoken in advocating AI regulation—raises speculation about the direction of the Trump administration's technology policy. Is this a sign that Washington prefers companies more accommodating to the economic growth agenda? Or is there another consideration behind Anthropic's absence? What is clear is that this dinner is an important barometer for the direction of technology cooperation between the two countries that have long competed fiercely.
Going forward, the public will be waiting to see whether this meeting produces concrete agreements in trade and technology, or merely symbolizes a normalization of relations. For Indonesia, its position as a non-aligned country could be an opportunity to bridge the interests of the two major powers, while ensuring that global dynamics do not sacrifice national interests.
