Trump says he’ll let UAE buy ‘top-tier’ American AI chips

President Donald Trump said Friday in Abu Dhabi that the United States and the United Arab Emirates are moving forward on a deal to let Abu Dhabi buy advanced AI chips made by American companies.

Speaking at a business breakfast hosted by the US-UAE Business Council, Trump said, “Yesterday the two countries also agreed to create a path for the UAE to buy some of the world’s most advanced AI semiconductors from American companies. It’s a very big contract.”

According to CNBC, that contract could mean the UAE will be allowed to import 500,000 Nvidia H100 chips per year. These are the most powerful chips made by any US firm and are used in major AI data centers.

The UAE wants to build its own AI infrastructure fast and has already poured money into becoming a top player in artificial intelligence. But national security rules have kept US chips out of Gulf hands for years.

Trump plans to drop chip restrictions

Now, that could change. Trump’s administration is working to reverse a Biden-era rule that banned the export of high-end AI chips, even to countries considered allies. That rule was meant to keep advanced chip tech away from potential adversaries, especially China, but it also blocked US-friendly states like the UAE from buying the parts they needed.

Some lawmakers and national security officials are pushing back, worried the chips could eventually fall into the wrong hands. Even people inside Trump’s administration are reportedly not all on board. Still, Trump made clear he’s focused on the business side: “It’s a very big contract,” he repeated, pointing to billions of dollars in deals that are expected to follow.

Just a day before his statement, the White House announced a partnership with the UAE to build a massive AI facility in Abu Dhabi. The data center will be developed by G42, a local tech firm. It will have 5 gigawatts of power and cover 10 square miles, making it the largest of its kind outside the US, according to the Department of Commerce.

Several US tech leaders traveled with Trump on the Gulf tour. They included Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, Sam Altman of OpenAI, Masayoshi Son of SoftBank, and Jeetu Patel, President at Cisco. The government didn’t confirm if their companies were part of the Abu Dhabi project, but their presence hinted at deep involvement.

UAE energy push ties into AI expansion

The UAE also announced on Friday that it plans to quadruple its investment in the US energy sector by 2035, raising its total exposure from $70 billion to $440 billion. That number came from Sultan Al Jaber, the CEO of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), during a closed-door session with Trump at the tail end of the visit.

Al Jaber told Trump that $60 billion in new energy deals had already been signed. These include agreements with ExxonMobil, Inpex of Japan, and Occidental Petroleum. EOG Resources also won a contract to explore oil fields in the Al Dhafra region. Together, these projects will expand existing gas fields and bring in new drilling in both the US and UAE.

“The agreements reinforce the shared commitment of the UAE and US to maintaining global energy security and the stability of energy markets,” ADNOC said in a written statement.

The Biden-era rules that limited exports to the UAE also stood in the way of the Emirates becoming a real AI hub. Those rules, meant to stop sensitive US chip tech from reaching rival governments, didn’t account for friendly nations with ambitions to lead in tech.

“We’re making great progress for the $1.4 trillion that UAE has announced it intends to spend in the United States,” Trump said Friday. “Yesterday the two countries also agreed to create a path for UAE to buy some of the world’s most advanced AI semiconductors from American companies, a very big contract.”

He also addressed the economic change happening in the region: “And I read where—the oil and gas and all is great—but you’re going to have equally big, and maybe even bigger—at some point, you’ll be surpassing it with AI and other businesses,” Trump told Emirati officials.

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