Beijing dismissed the Nvidia spy scandal as part of US efforts to impose a tech “blockade” on China, clouding the prospects for a summit between the superpowers’ leaders next week. Though the US Treasury secretary yesterday hailed what he described as growing bilateral engagement, that upbeat rhetoric has yet to translate into tangible progress in US-China relations.

Next week’s talks in Shenzhen were set to advance an ongoing AI dialogue, potentially sharing best practices on pre-release testing of advanced models, but the espionage allegations involving a Chinese executive and Nvidia’s CEO threaten to throw those into flux — particularly given the Chinese woman is now reportedly living in Beijing with the knowledge of the country’s security officials, according to Bloomberg.