The Powers That Be: Daily The Powers That Be: Daily

The Trump-Xi Summit Showdown

Sep 24, 2026 · 25m

Summary

Peter Hamby and Ian Kreuzberg analyze the Trump-Xi summit, questioning if a US-China AI safety deal is feasible amidst rising global fears. They discuss the conflicting interests of attending tech CEOs, like Jensen Huang, and the diplomatic hurdles of building trust. The conversation highlights that while grand deals often fail, incremental steps like communication channels are more realistic. They also explore China’s public-private AI ecosystem and the lack of clear frameworks for "pacing the frontier."

Topics discussed

Intro: US-China AI safety summit and guest Ian Kreuzberg Sponsor: Intersectors legal perspectives Context: Xi's visit, trade, and AI safety concerns Global pressure and the pace of AI advancement Why the summit timing aligns with rising AI fears Political uncertainty and what a framework might look like Grand deals vs. incremental trust-building steps Pragmatic outcomes: communication channels and mutual interests Defining 'pacing the frontier' and independent evaluation The 2024 Biden-Xi agreement on nuclear AI decisions Diplomatic challenges and Trump's stance on AI safety Transition to CEO interests and break Sponsor: Intersectors legal perspectives Sponsor: 48 Hours podcast Sponsor: Cullagen Purity water Return: List of business leaders attending the dinner Jensen Huang's stance on chips, safety, and regulation Industry aversion to regulation and Chinese open-weight competition China's AI ecosystem: state-private collaboration and DeepSeek Closing remarks and thanks to Ian Kreuzberg Credits and T-Mobile sponsor
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