According to reports, the United Arab Emirates and the United States have struck a significant agreement to build the largest artificial intelligence campus outside the US, marking a pivotal moment in global tech diplomacy.
The AI campus, to be built in Abu Dhabi by state-backed firm G42, will span 10 square miles and carry a massive 5-gigawatt power capacity, capable of supporting up to 2.5 million Nvidia B200 chips.
The pact, concluded during US President Donald Trump’s recent trip to the UAE, represents a significant advancement for the Gulf country, which has encountered limitations in obtaining US-produced AI chips due to worries about its expanding relationship with China.
The agreement signifies a change in US strategy, as the Trump administration believes that data centers overseen by Americans can protect critical technologies.
According to the US Commerce Department, companies in America will run these data centres and oversee cloud services throughout the area. Qualcomm is reportedly developing an AI engineering center, while Amazon Web Services plans to partner with local entities on cybersecurity and cloud adoption projects.
The agreement features clauses for the UAE to either invest in or construct data infrastructure of similar scale in the US while harmonizing national security rules to avert the misdirection of American-origin technology. According to sources knowledgeable about the deal, it also enables the UAE to annually import as many as 500,000 of Nvidia’s most cutting-edge chips starting in 2025.
Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang was seen in Abu Dhabi talking with President Trump and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan during the trip, although the company has not made any official remarks. The White House characterized the agreement as having “historic commitments” regarding cooperation in tech security.
The action showcases how Washington's stance has changed under Trump. AI executive David Sacks recently remarked in Riyadh that the chip export controls from the Biden administration were “never meant to include friends, allies, and strategic partners.” The UAE has lately been reducing Chinese technological infrastructure to ease concerns of US regulators, which includes eliminating Huawei devices and divesting China-related interests from G42.
However, obstacles persist. Huawei and Alibaba Cloud have a foothold in the UAE, and there are reports of AI chip smuggling networks operating in the Gulf.
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For the time being, the new AI campus indicates a strengthening technological partnership between Abu Dhabi and Washington, potentially reshaping the power dynamics in worldwide AI infrastructure.