Trump heads to China to spread the gospel of American tech while emulating Xi Jinping on AI
Donald Trump is heading to China this week.If his guest list is any clue, he wants to discuss technology with Xi Jinping, though perhaps after the war in Iran.On Monday, news broke that outgoing Apple CEO, Tim Cook, as well as SpaceX and Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, would join the US president.Other guests from the tech sphere include Meta’s recently appointed president, Dina Powell McCormick; Sanjay Mehrotra, CEO of computer memory maker Micron; Chuck Robbins, CEO of longtime telecom giant Cisco; and Cristiano Amon, CEO of semiconductor maker Qualcomm, according to a White House official.Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s CEO – who is close to Trump but criticized the US’s limitations on chip sales to China in an April interview, saying that he didn’t want a “loser mentality” to cost the US its edge in AI – will not be joining the president.
A major deal on semiconductors seems less likely without the world’s most important chip maker, though an announcement from Micron seems possible,In Cook, Trump likely also wants to bring a friendly, familiar face to high-stakes negotiations,Apple’s iPhone 17 has proved enormously successful in China, boosting the company’s quarterly earnings to their highest point ever,Apple still manufactures most of its products in China, though it has moved a significant percentage of those operations to India and Vietnam,In Apple’s announcement of Cook’s retirement, the company highlighted his diplomatic skills and said his responsibilities would include dealing with leaders around the world, so visits like this may become a mainstay of his schedule in the future.
Whether Trump’s trip will foster a flurry of tech deals, as his Middle East visit did in May 2025, will have to be seen.But while Trump trots out the US’s best and brightest business people – products of his hands-free policy for fostering technological innovation – his administration is taking cues from China’s more stringent approach to AI.China’s laws require AI companies to submit their models to Beijing for review on both security and political sensitivity grounds.The stringent policies prohibit not only threats to national security but also the generation of content that Beijing finds objectionable.In the same vein, the White House is getting more involved in the work of frontier labs in the US.
Trump is mulling an executive order that would require AI companies to submit their newest models for White House review.The administration has already announced deals with a growing number of big players in the field for national security reviews of their latest releases, including Google DeepMind, Microsoft and xAI last week.The reviews will be conducted by the Center for AI Standards and Innovation (CAISI), part of the US Department of Commerce.The Pentagon’s standoff with Anthropic continues in court over the startup’s qualms about military usage and the bureau’s designation of the company as a supply chain risk.Vice-president, JD Vance, has requested that Anthropic not expand access to its powerful cybersecurity-focused model Mythos beyond its initial list of partners, according to the Wall Street Journal.
How to match wine with vegetables
At a recent tasting, I got chatting to a winemaker from Australia’s Clare Valley as I bravely made my way through his wares: a ripe, leathery shiraz and a deep, dark cabernet sauvignon that put me in mind of blackcurrant bushes. These were serious wines – and good value, too. A generation ago, such gutsy New World reds were all the rage, but now, lamented the winemaker, gen Z was more interested in lighter, cooler-climate wines, lower on the alcohol and brighter on the palate.The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link
‘Restaurants won’t survive’: Michelin chef opens venues abroad to withstand UK taxes
A British Michelin-starred chef says he is opening restaurants abroad to subsidise his UK venues against a backdrop of high taxes and a struggling hospitality sector.Jason Atherton is now in Forte dei Marmi, on the Tuscan coast in Italy, where he is preparing his newest opening, Maria’s, which will be in the Principessa hotel. The Sheffield-born chef now has restaurants all over the world, including in Dubai and St Moritz.He said he was finding it easier to make a profit in countries with more forgiving policies towards restaurants, pubs and bars. “I am trying to sustain our business by opening abroad
Rachel Roddy’s recipe for spring chicken thighs with spring onions, mint and peas | A kitchen in Rome
The weather lately has been as temperamental as peas in pods. But peas are even harder to read than the sky: some pods contain sweet things no bigger than peppercorns, which explode when you bite them; the contents of others, however, are closer to small ball bearings, their size very likely a sign that all the natural sucrose has been metabolised and transformed to pea starch. The best thing for the tiny ones is to snack on them alongside a bit of cheese, whereas the path for big ones is the same as for dried peas, so pea and ham soup or a long-simmered puree.The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link
Navel gazing: oranges, mandarins and persimmons top Australia’s best-value fruit and veg for May
“Sweet, low seed and great for snacking” imperial mandarins have just started their season, says Josh Flamminio, owner and buyer at Sydney’s Galluzzo Fruiterers. The tangy-sweet citrus is selling for between $2.99 and $3.99 a kilo in major supermarkets. At Galluzzo, Queensland-grown imperial mandarins are $3
How to save asparagus trimmings from the food-waste bin – recipe | Waste not
Asparagus butts are a particularly tricky byproduct to tame because they’re so fibrous. I usually cut them very finely (into 5mm-thick discs, or even thinner), then boil, puree and pass them through a sieve (as in my green goddess salad dressing and asparagus soup), but even then you’ll still end up with a fair bit of fibrous waste. Enter asparagus-butt butter: a recipe that defies all odds, making the impossible possible by transforming a tough offcut into an intense compound butter that’s perfect for grilling or frying asparagus spears themselves, or for eggs, bread, gnocchi or whatever you can think of. The short fibres brown and caramelise in the butter, and in the process become the highlight of the dish, rather than the problem.This transforms an unwanted byproduct into an intense expression of the plant’s flavour
Thoran and chaat: Romy Gill’s Indian-style asparagus recipes
Spring’s first asparagus always feels like a celebration, but there’s so much more to cooking those spears than just butter and lemon. Here, those tender stems combine with bold Indian flavours in two playful dishes. The thoran, inspired by Keralan home cooking, involves stir-frying asparagus with coconut, mustard seeds and curry leaves to create something warm and comforting (my friend Simi’s mum always used to drizzle it with a little lemon juice to give the flavours a lift). The chaat, meanwhile, tossed with tangy tamarind, yoghurt, spices, crunchy chickpeas and sweet pomegranate, is a delicious snack or side. Together, they show how versatile asparagus can be: easy to cook, vibrant and moreish even in unexpected culinary traditions
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