Trump and Xi meet as investors navigate US-China AI divide

Cross-border AI investment has surged from $436 million to $8.9 billion in three years, even as Washington and Beijing race to build independent tech supply chains

The world’s two largest economies are locked in an AI arms race. Their investors, apparently, didn’t get the memo.

As President Trump and President Xi Jinping prepare to meet in Washington around September 24, the capital flowing between the US and China tells a story that contradicts the confrontational rhetoric dominating headlines. Chinese and Hong Kong investors have poured approximately $8.9 billion into US AI funding rounds as of mid-September 2026, up from just $436 million in 2023. That’s a roughly 20x increase during a period when both governments were actively trying to decouple their technology sectors.

Money talks louder than tariffs

US Wall Street banks have served as bookrunners on 19 Chinese high-tech equity capital market deals worth $17.2 billion in 2026. Meanwhile, the total value of US equities held by investors from Hong Kong and mainland China has climbed 23% over the past year, now exceeding $750 billion.

Chinese mutual funds have developed ...