Trump agrees deal for UAE to build largest AI campus outside US.
The United Arab Emirates and the United States have signed an agreement for the Gulf country to build the largest artificial intelligence campus outside the United States, one of several deals around AI made during Donald Trump’s visit to the Middle East.
But the agreement has also raised concerns, since it would have faced restrictions under the previous administration over Washington’s fears that China could access the technology.
The agreement to build the campus would give UAE expanded access to advanced AI chips. The US and UAE did not say which AI chips could be included in the data centers, but sources told Reuters the UAE could be allowed to import 500,000 of Nvidia’s most advanced AI chips per year starting in 2025.
Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang was seen in televised footage conversing with Donald Trump and UAE president Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at a palace in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.
The agreement is a major win for the UAE, which has been trying to balance its relations with its longtime ally the US and its largest trading partner China. The Gulf state has been spending billions of dollars in a push to become a global AI player. But its ties to China had limited access to US chips under former president Joe Biden.
The deal reflects the Trump administration’s confidence that the chips can be managed securely, in part by requiring data centres be managed by US companies.
The US has been at the forefront of AI technology and innovation, but over the past year China has emerged as a serious competitor. Despite Trump’s confidence, some worry that striking deals with Persian Gulf countries could further diminish US grip on the burgeoning tech. There’s also the fear that China would be able to access these data centers for its own benefit.
Top CEOs from AI and chip companies, such as OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Nvidia’s Huang, appear to support such a deal. It could bring their products to an even larger world stage and they stand to profit immensely.
AI was top of the agenda when Bin Zayed Al Nahyan visited Washington in December in the final days of Biden’s presidency.
G42 and MGX, the state-linked vehicles picked to drive the UAE’s AI investment push, have also invested in US firms such as OpenAI and Elon Musk’s xAI, while Microsoft last year agreed to invest $1.5bn in G42.
The two companies said the deal was backed by security assurances, and under US pressure, G42 had previously begun ripping out Chinese hardware it was using and sold off Chinese investments.
Source: theguardian
