Tesla's Musk, Alibaba's Ma to talk at Shanghai tech event this week
Ma is set to formally step down from his position as chairman of Alibaba in September.
SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd chairman Jack Ma will speak at a conference on artificial intelligence (AI) to be held this week in Shanghai, an Alibaba spokeswoman said on Monday.
The two entrepreneurs will have a conversation in front of an audience on Aug 29 at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference which will run Aug 29-Aug 31, the spokeswoman said.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Musk confirmed his attendance at the conference earlier this month. On Twitter, he also said he intends to launch a China unit of The Boring Company, his underground transportation venture, on the same China trip.
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The talk will come amid an intensifying war over trade and technology between the United States and China.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Friday an additional duty on some $550 billion of targeted Chinese goods, hours after China unveiled retaliatory tariffs on $75 billion worth of U.S. goods.
Tesla is one of several high profile American companies affected by the trade war. The company is currently building a factory for its vehicles in Shanghai.
In early 2018, Musk messaged Trump publicly on Twitter lamenting China’s 25% tariff on imported cars entering the market.
Jack Ma has been an outspoken critic of the trade war. Late last year at the China International Import Expo in Shanghai, the e-commerce entrepreneur called the conflict “the most stupid thing in this world”.
Ma is set to formally step down from his position as chairman of Alibaba in September.
