During a four-day trip to the Middle East, President Donald Trump announced a significant partnership between the United States and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to enable the importation of advanced U.S.-made semiconductors for Abu Dhabi’s artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives. A key component of the deal is a possible agreement allowing the UAE to import 500,000 Nvidia H100 chips annually, potentially accelerating Abu Dhabi’s efforts to develop large-scale data centers. This move coincides with the Trump administration’s plan to ease chip export restrictions put in place by former President Joe Biden, stirring concerns about potential access by China to advanced U.S. technology. Since 2022, the U.S. has banned the export of Nvidia H100 chips to China and has imposed further restrictions on other chips like the H20 to prevent circumvention. As part of the partnership, the UAE will construct a 10-square-mile, 5-gigawatt data center—the largest outside the U.S.—led by Emirati firm G42 and involving several U.S. tech companies. Prominent tech figures, including Elon Musk, Jensen Huang, and Sam Altman, accompanied Trump during the trip, indicating strong industry involvement in the initiative. 

Source: New York Times