Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro has criticized President Donald Trump‘s administration for allegedly assisting China in the artificial intelligence (AI) race.
Shapiro, speaking at the AI Horizons 2026 Summit in Pittsburgh on Thursday, claimed that the Trump administration’s actions contradicted its own calls for the U.S. to outpace China in AI development.
He accused the Trump administration of selling some of America’s “most advanced chips” to Chinese companies, thereby giving them an advantage over American entrepreneurs. He said, “that was a mistake” and called for effective leadership.
“Real leadership means keeping America ahead of China in AI innovation,” he said, adding that Washington should stop alienating the allies and lead international efforts to bring countries together around a framework for responsible AI regulation and safety.
The Democrat also used his speech to emphasize that AI should be a top agenda item when Trump meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping next week. He urged the U.S. to pursue international standards for advanced AI systems while maintaining a technological edge over Beijing.
The governor also called for tighter oversight of frontier AI models, greater transparency requirements and independent evaluations of advanced systems before their widespread deployment.
Nvidia at the Center of US-China AI War
The governor’s comments came as an August report suggested that limited batches of Nvidia Corp.‘s (NASDAQ:NVDA) H200 AI chips were shipped to China, despite restrictions. Chinese tech giants like ByteDance and Tencent Holdings Ltd. (OTC:TCEHY) received around 10,000 H200 processors each.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is expected to attend a White House dinner during Xi’s visit to Washington on Sept. 24. The White House said Trump invited prominent U.S. business leaders and wants to prioritize deals that benefit the U.S. Huang has maintained close ties with Trump, joining the president on his May trip to China and attending a dinner hosted by the Chinese President for Trump.
Trump, China Clash Over AI Regulation
Trump dismissed AI-safety concerns as a "hoax," arguing that existing government powers are sufficient and that tighter regulations could weaken the U.S. against China.
Last week, China’s People’s Daily accused the U.S. of applying "double standards" to AI model distillation and urged the U.S. and China to cooperate on AI risks. It called for an open, inclusive AI development environment and warned against turning the technology into a tool of great-power competition.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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