Tesla and xAI chief Elon Musk praised Chinese President Xi Jinping as a "great leader" in a CCTV interview aired September 23, as Xi arrived in Washington for his first state visit there in more than a decade and a summit with President Donald Trump. Musk called for joint U.S.-China work on AI safety regulation, lower tariffs and fewer trade restrictions, while describing Chinese AI models as highly capable and predicting China could overcome current computing constraints within two to three years through advances in lithography and chip manufacturing despite U.S. export controls on advanced semiconductors. Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory has produced more than 4.5 million vehicles, representing more than 45% of the company's cumulative global output, while China wholesale sales rose 25.6% year on year to 647,694 vehicles in the first eight months of 2026. Musk was expected to attend a state dinner with other technology leaders. Separately, a federal judge questioned the White House's ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico and had not ruled on whether it would be lifted.