GoKawiilSemafor reports that Tim Cook is among the CEOs likely to be invited to an upcoming trip to China. Whether he goes could shape his remaining months as Apple’s CEO. Here are the details.
A trip Cook may not want to skip
As reported by Semafor, the Trump administration plans to invite Apple CEO Tim Cook, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, and Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon, among others, for a trip to China next week.
The list reportedly also includes CEOs from Exxon, Boeing, Blackstone, Citigroup, and Visa, “and is likely to grow in the coming days as CEOs jockey for invites,” says Semafor.
Although the details of the trip are still in motion, it will likely involve at least some discussion around AI, as the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that the US and China are weighing official talks “as their AI competition threatens to become the arms race of the digital era.”
Semafor also says that President Trump has been talking about the upcoming China trip with executives he has met recently, suggesting in passing that he expects to see them in Beijing.
Bringing CEOs on foreign trips has been a familiar part of Trump’s second term. Last year, his visits to the UK, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates also included meetings with business leaders.
When it comes to Apple, Tim Cook declined Trump’s invitation to join him in the United Arab Emirates, a decision that reportedly strained his relationship with the president.
During the trip, Trump appeared to call out Cook’s absence directly, telling Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang during a speech in Riyadh: “Tim Cook isn’t here, but you are.”
He later threatened a 25% tariff on iPhones not made in the United States, which the New York Times reported was likely payback for Cook skipping the delegation.
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