UAE Sees Progress on AI Chips Access After $1.4 Trillion Pledge

(Bloomberg) -- The United Arab Emirates is optimistic about securing access to cutting-edge chips currently under US export restrictions, after pledging $1.4 trillion to strengthen ties with Washington.

The country is making “very good and tangible progress” toward securing advanced semiconductors from the US, according to Peng Xiao, chief executive officer of G42, the UAE’s leading artificial intelligence firm.

The Emiratis have been stepping up investments in US technology and energy sectors to gain access to chips critical to its aspirations of becoming an AI powerhouse. The UAE currently falls within the second tier of the AI diffusion rule, which restricts the number of processors that can be exported to most nations.

Last month, the White House announced the UAE would invest $1.4 trillion in the US over the next decade, following a meeting between President Donald Trump and Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The Abu Dhabi royal, who oversees a $1.5 trillion empire that includes G42, is also the UAE’s national security adviser.

People familiar with Sheikh Tahnoon’s plans ahead of that meeting said he would seek easier access to chips and highlight the UAE’s plans for tech infrastructure built on American soil. That includes funding from MGX, which the Abu Dhabi royal chairs, for a $100 billion AI infrastructure venture that Trump unveiled during his first week in office.

“We’d like to continue to double down in the US even more. We have our conditions of course,” Xiao, who is also a member of Abu Dhabi’s Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Technology Council, said in an interview. 

“We want it to be a mutually beneficial relationship.”

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Xiao said his firm may play a role in the investment pledge but declined to share specifics. Other executives from G42’s data center and cloud-computing divisions told Bloomberg News this week they are planning US expansions, alongside new ventures in Europe, Africa and the Gulf. 

G42 said it would divest from China last year before entering a partnership with Microsoft Corp. The pivot — which includes efforts to phase out Huawei equipment — was a strategic move to align with the US in pursuit of global AI leadership. 

“The fact that there are joint investments between the UAE and US companies — whether that’s here or in the US — gives us a preferential position as a partner,” Omar Al Olama, the UAE’s minister for AI and digital economy, said in a separate interview. 

“I don’t think the UAE is seen as just another player.” 

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