Reshma Kapadia

President Donald Trump confirmed that artificial intelligence would be a "big topic" when he meets with Chinese leader Xi Jinping later Thursday morning, but played down the possibility of any big moves to rein in AI despite rising safety concerns.

Trump said in a social media post early Thursday that while AI will be discussed, he wants "to leave it exactly where it is. That is China's position also. Our guardrail is the DOJ [Department of Justice]."

Trump greeted Xi on the tarmac in an unusual move on Wednesday night and is expected to host the Chinese leader at the White House later Thursday morning for a bilateral meeting and then a state dinner. Analysts are expecting a lot of symbolism from the talks, but not much substance, given the thorny issues simmering under the surface of a relationship that both leaders are trying to keep stable for now.

In a statement released Thursday, Xi described this year as "pivotal" to the development of both countries and reiterated earlier comments for the two to work together to add "new substance to the constructive China-US relationship of strategic stability." He said he was confident the two could find the right way for the U.S. and China to "get along with each other in the new era."

Xi's first visit to the White House in a decade comes as the two leaders are trying to find stable footing despite increasing friction, including on Iran and in the AI race. Beijing has continued to be the biggest buyer of Iran's oil and support it in various ways, but so far the U.S. has withheld its sanctions power against China broadly.

On the technology front, analysts are looking for some indication the two countries-which are at the heart of the race to dominate AI-may take steps to address shared AI safety concerns. But Trump said earlier this week he wasn't going to rein in AI, which he likened to the industrial revolution.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said late Thursday that the two sides would look to extend a truce struck last fall for two months. The detente, which hit pause on U.S. escalatory tariffs and other restrictions and on China's restrictions on U.S. access to rare earths, is set to expire Nov. 10. Beijing had been looking for a longer extension, and many analysts had anticipated an extension of about six months.