In a recent Bloomberg article, the USA has approved Nvidia Corp chip exports to the UAE, after a stall of five months since the deal was signed in May 2025.
As per the article, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security recently issued the Nvidia export licenses under the terms of a bilateral AI agreement according to people familiar with the matter, who requested anonymity so they could discuss a sensitive issue.
As per the article, the approval came after the UAE made concrete plans for a reciprocal amount of investment on American soil, a US official said. The official declined to specify the exact value of the approved chip shipments and Emirati investment.
Neither the UAE nor Nvidia commented in the article. However a spokesperson for USA Commerce Department noted that the department is fully committed to the transformational U.S.-UAE AI partnership deal.
The licenses mark the first permits for Nvidia AI chip sales to the Gulf nation since President Donald Trump took office. It was part of a deal where the UAE would invest $1.4 trillion in the USA over the next 10 years, while the USA would approve up to 500,000 AI chips annually.
The initial batch of permits does not include any chips for G42, which is partnering with OpenAI on a campus in the UAE’s capital city. It’s unclear when additional licenses may be issued, the people said, adding that it will depend in part on how the UAE’s specific investment plans unfold.
In September Abu Dhabi’s Technology Innovation Institute and Nvidia launched a joint research lab in the United Arab Emirates that will focus on developing next-generation AI models and robotics platforms. The joint research hub is the first Nvidia AI Technology Center in the Middle East, TII said in a statement, combining its multidisciplinary research with the U.S. company’s AI models and computing power.
UAE is seeking to lift AI’s share of national GDP from today’s ~9% to 45% by 2031, adding an estimated AED 335 billion in value. The UAE is making extensive AI investments, including a $1.4 trillion commitment over 10 years to build AI data centers in the U.S. UAE MGX backed by G42 and Mubadala, plans to invest $100 billion in AI infrastructure, chips, and core AI technologies.
