America's biggest corporate titans are resuming trips to China and going out of their way to defuse — or at least downplay — tensions between the world's two largest economies.

• Why it matters: The growing government antagonism between Washington and Beijing contrasts sharply with business leaders, who hope to showcase China's importance to economic growth, reports Javier E. David, Axios managing editor for business.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is raising eyebrows with his first visit to Beijing in three years and a high-stakes meeting with China's foreign minister.

• JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon is speaking at a confab in Shanghai today — his first trip to China since the pandemic began.

🖼️ The big picture: Sino-American pain points are large and multiplying, and took a turn for the worse with the spy balloon incursion early this year.

• The list of tensions includes a growing bipartisan furor over TikTok, the availability of technology and investment, and even space exploration.

🔎 Between the lines: The pilgrimages by Dimon and Musk reflect the realpolitik that has always driven Western financial considerations. Even as critiques mount over Beijing's global ambitions and human rights record, executives are becoming more vocal about salvaging the relationship.

• At Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting in early May, investing legends Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger denounced rising U.S.-China tensions as "stupid," insisting the superpowers need each other.

🥊 Reality check: Much like a chatty executive worried about losing business, money talks. Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang told Musk that his country was committed to improving the business climate — and even employed a car metaphor to make his point.

• "We must step on the brake in time, avoid dangerous driving and be skillful at using the accelerator to promote mutually beneficial cooperation," Qin said.

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Chipmaker Nvidia briefly topped $1 trillion in market value yesterday before falling back, placing it in the elite club that includes only Apple, Google/Alphabet, Amazon and Microsoft.

• Why it matters: The jump followed Nvidia's announcement this weekend of several new processors and systems optimized for AI-related tasks, Axios chief tech correspondent Ina Fried reports.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said at an event in Taiwan that the firm's GH-200 Grace Hopper "Superchip" — a module that's tuned for generative AI uses — is now in full production.

• Such products can help speed up the lengthy, computationally demanding work of training and running large language models, such as OpenAI's GPT-4.

🧠 What's happening: Nvidia developed its core technology to power PC graphics cards.

• The approach turned out to be good for a whole bunch of other purposes, including cryptocurrency mining — and now AI.

💰 This year's Nvidia rise has created upwards of $600 billion in paper gains for investors, Axios Markets' Matt Phillips reports.

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The single stark, haunting sentence above is the full text of a warning issued yesterday by some of the world's top AI pioneers, through the nonprofit Center for AI Safety (CAIS).

• Signers include Open AI CEO Sam Altman ... Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis ... Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott ... Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei ... Geoffrey Hinton, the "godfather of AI" ... and hundreds more.

Why it matters: The people who know the technology best are screaming that the risk of obliterating humanity isn't zero.

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Fresh housing data showed yesterday that prices for houses are stabilizing, pretty much around the elevated levels where they've been for the last year and a half, Axios Markets' Matt Phillips reports.

• The Federal Housing Finance Agency's national housing index shows prices rose 0.6% from March to April. They're 3.7% higher than a year ago.

Relative to prices in late 2019 — before COVID — nationwide home prices were roughly 40% higher in April.

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House leaders are confident that the chamber today will approve the debt ceiling deal between President Biden and Speaker McCarthy — heading off a disastrous government default.

• Why it matters: Not all victory laps are the same. The number of votes from each party could signal who made the better deal, Axios' Hans Nichols, Andrew Solender, Juliegrace Brufke and Eugene Scott report.

A solid Republican tally — with clearly more GOP votes than the Democrats — would allow McCarthy to show strength in the face of criticism from the most conservative members of his caucus.

• McCarthy's lieutenants hope to get 150 of the 222 GOP Republican House members to vote yes, and virtually assure passage of the bill.

State of play: A big Democratic vote for the bill — say, well over a majority of the 213 Democrats in the 435-member House — would bolster the notion, held by some lawmakers in each party, that Biden outfoxed GOP negotiators.

• If McCarthy winds up relying on more Democratic votes than Republican ones to get the bill passed, it could be an embarrassment that jeopardizes his hold on the speaker's gavel.

👀 What we're watching: McCarthy is on the cusp of a political accomplishment few predicted just a few months ago — passing a substantial bill that cuts spending and raises the debt ceiling, with a clear majority of his conference supporting him on strategy and substance.

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Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is expected to announce his Republican candidacy for president with a town hall at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire next Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. ET, Axios has learned.

• Why it matters: Christie, 60, is a former close Trump ally who now calls the former president a "coward" and "puppet of Putin." He gives traditional Republicans a horse — but seems to have a narrow market in today's GOP.

Here's what to expect from a Christie candidacy, per his team:

1. Being joyful and hitting a hopeful note aimed at America's "exhausted majority."
2. Being authentic — a happy warrior who speaks his mind, takes risks and is happy to punch Donald Trump in the nose. Christie's recent interviews and New Hampshire town halls aimed to recapture the brio of his 2009 governor's race.
3. Running a national race — "a non-traditional campaign that is highly focused on earned media, mixing it up in the news cycle and engaging Trump," an adviser said. "Will not be geographic dependent, but nimble."

The campaign will be run by longtime Christie hands Maria Comella and Mike DuHaime, the N.Y. Times reports (subscription).

• Officials of the Christie super PAC (Tell It Like It Is) include Brian Jones, Bill Palatucci, Russ Schriefer, and Brent Seaborn.

Anthony Scaramucci is a supporter.

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Life gets "phygital": We'll soon be scanning shirts and skirts for care instructions, the way we now do restaurant menus, Jennifer A. Kingson writes for Axios What's Next.

The apparel industry wants small labels with QR codes to replace bulky clothing tags.

• Why it matters: Digital product labels — which brands like Ralph Lauren are already trying — could provide a lot more information to consumers, who could scan them for details about the garment they're wearing (or might buy).

What's happening: Garment manufacturers have been lobbying Congress and the FTC for permission to replace physical clothing tags — which must include fiber content, country of origin and more — with digital labels.

• That would allow manufacturers to make the tags much smaller — and less itchy and annoying, says Jason Berns, head of product and manufacturing innovation at Ralph Lauren.

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HBO's "Succession" series finale drew 2.9 million viewers on Sunday — a series record for debut night. The total will grow significantly with delayed viewing.

• "Succession" didn't approach the HBO record of 19.8 million people who watched the 2019 finale of "Game of Thrones" on its premiere night. HBO says 46 million people eventually watched that episode, AP reports.

"Succession" has averaged 8.7 million total viewers for Season 4 episodes — a jump of 1.5 million viewers from Season 3.

Context: 43 years ago, 83 million Americans watched the series finale of "Dallas" on CBS on Nov. 21, 1980, to find out who shot J.R. Ewing.

💭 Jeremy Strong, 44 — who began filming his Kendall Roy character seven years ago — told the N.Y. Times on a video call Monday:

"Somebody once said that actors are emotional athletes. And this show has been like a decathlon for me."

Watch 4 trailers.