A top UAE official plans to visit Washington to press for easier access to American technology and discuss investment in the US, according to people familiar with the matter, seeking to sway the Trump administration on export controls governing the advanced semiconductors needed to power artificial intelligence.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who’s the UAE’s national security adviser and brother of the country’s president, is slated to meet with Trump cabinet officials as soon as next week, said the people, who requested anonymity because the travel plans aren’t yet public. That would likely include Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz. It’s unclear whether he will meet with the president, the people said.
Top of mind for the United Arab Emirates is its ability to buy cutting-edge chips from the likes of Nvidia Corp. The Gulf nation is vying to become a regional powerhouse for AI development, and has poured massive amounts of capital into data centers used for training AI models. But the US has limited exports of advanced chips to the UAE since 2023 and a fresh set of regulations is slated to cap the total computing power for most countries. Trump’s team is currently reviewing whether to proceed with the Biden-era rules as envisioned — or adjust them.
Sheikh Tahnoon plans to advocate for easier access to cutting-edge semiconductors and to highlight the UAE’s plans for substantial investments in tech infrastructure on American soil. That includes funding from Abu Dhabi-based MGX for a $100 billion AI infrastructure venture that President Donald Trump unveiled during his first week in office.
MGX is part of Sheikh Tahnoon’s sprawling $1.5 trillion empire, which spans everything from wealth funds to the AI company G42, which is the crown jewel of the UAE’s tech ambitions. He serves as chairman of those ventures, as well as the private investment firm Royal Group and First Abu Dhabi Bank. It’s unclear whether there will be another investment announcement during his US visit.
Spokespeople at the White House and Commerce Department didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for the UAE embassy declined to comment.
Sheikh Tahnoon’s visit, which falls during the holy month of Ramadan, comes at the Trump administration’s request, one of the people said. Trump officials are beginning early conversations on global chip controls, after the Biden administration dramatically expanded the scope of curbs that originally focused on China.
The Biden framework divided the world into three tiers of chip access — a permissive one for a few dozen close US partners, which allows almost unfettered chip access; a restrictive one for adversaries like China and Russia, which already faced stringent curbs; and a middle one for every other country, including the UAE. That last category sets limits on chip exports to the equivalent of 50,000 advanced processors per nation, with ways for companies to secure larger approvals in exchange for security commitments.
The so-called AI diffusion rule, which took effect in January but doesn’t require compliance until May, prompted an outcry from American tech giants including Nvidia as well as some US allies. The UAE was frustrated by its second-tier designation, after Emirate officials spent months trying to assuage Washington’s concerns about the country’s ties to Beijing. That included an agreement for G42 to divest from Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies Co., which paved the way from Microsoft Corp. to invest $1.5 billion in the Abu Dhabi company.
With assistance from Jenny Leonard and Stephanie Lai.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
