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What just happened? Donald Trump’s multi-billion dollar AI partnerships between US firms and Gulf nations has been criticized by critics who fear that it could open a door for China to gain access to restricted chips. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman disagrees and has labelled those who have such concerns “naïve.”
On his tour last week, Trump announced several agreements with Gulf countries, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, relating to the export of AI chips and the development of AI infrastructure.
Starting this year, the US has allowed the UAE import up to 500,000 Nvidia’s AI chips. The country has also signed an agreement for the construction of the largest artificial-intelligence campus outside the US. In return, the UAE pledged to invest $1.4 trillion in the United States, covering sectors such as energy, AI, manufacturing, and more.
This was a very smart thing you did and i apologize to the naive people who are criticizing you. https://t.co/iTkQj9c9QW
– Sam Altman (@sama) May 16, 2025
In Saudi Arabia, the nation’s sovereign wealth fund-backed AI startup, Humain, has secured a deal to receive 18,000 Blackwell AI chips for a 500-megawatt data center. The agreement was announced by leaders from AMD, Amazon, and other companies. In return, the Kingdom has committed to invest $600 billion in US firms, focusing on AI, defense and infrastructure.
These deals contrast with how the previous US administration treated Persian Gulf countries in terms of AI hardware exports. In 2023, Biden’s government implemented restrictions on the sale high-end AI chip from Nvidia to certain countries in the Middle East including the UAE and Saudi Arabia. The measures were designed to prevent sensitive technologies from reaching countries that have close ties with China – the UAE’s and Saudi Arabia’s largest trading partners.
In January 2025, the Biden administration introduced the AI Diffusion Rule. This placed the UAE and Saudi Arabia into a category with stricter export restrictions on AI chips. The Trump administration rescinded this rule just before it was to go into effect in May 2025.
former PayPal chief operating office David Sacks who is the White House artificial-intelligence and crypto-czar said he “genuinely perplexed” the criticism of the deals. Altman replied to the post in X by writing, “this was an extremely smart thing for you all to do and i’m sorry naive people are giving you grief.”
it’s no surprise to see Altman voicing support. OpenAI has teamed up with Emirati AI company G42 and investment entity MGX in order to build one of the largest AI data centres in Abu Dhabi. The company also plays a major part in the AI revolution that is taking place in Gulf region.
