The US has approved the first Nvidia chip exports to the UAE, in a step towards implementing a landmark artificial intelligence partnership, according to reports.
The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security has issued the export licences under the terms of a bilateral AI agreement signed in May, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing sources.
A representative of the Commerce Department was quoted by Bloomberg saying that the department is “fully committed to the transformational US-UAE AI partnership deal”.
There was no formal comment from Nvidia or the UAE.
The approval came after the UAE made concrete plans for a reciprocal amount of investment on American soil, a US official said. The exact value of the approved chip shipments and UAE investment were not disclosed.
The licences mark the first permits for Nvidia AI chip sales to the Gulf nation since President Donald Trump took office.
The move comes as the UAE pushes to accelerate AI adoption across government and business as part of the UAE Vision 2031, which seeks to position the country among the world’s most advanced digital economies.
The National Artificial Intelligence Strategy, launched in 2017 under the Centennial 2071 vision, also seeks to make the country a global hub for AI and future-driven sectors.
Earlier this year, the UAE and US governments agreed to establish the US-UAE AI Acceleration Partnership, a framework to bolster co-operation around critical technologies. This included plans for a 5-gigawatt UAE-US AI Campus.
The campus was announced during Mr Trump’s visit to the Emirates in May, when he announced deals with country totalling more than $200 billion.
Last month, Nvidia also teamed up with Abu Dhabi's Technology Innovation Institute, the research arm of Abu Dhabi’s Advanced Technology Research Council, to establish a joint lab dedicated to AI and robotics. The collaboration will develop next-generation AI models, robotics platforms and humanoid technologies that will accelerate innovation across industries.
Also, in May, Abu Dhabi AI company G42 teamed up with technology giants OpenAI, Oracle and Nvidia, alongside SoftBank Group, to create Stargate UAE, which will be the largest AI data centre, forming part of a system of OpenAI-linked data centres around the world.
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, according to the Bloomberg report. It added that it’s unclear when additional licences may be issued.
The US has a preliminary agreement with the UAE to allow it to import 500,000 of Nvidia's most advanced AI chips per year, starting in 2025, according to a Reuters report in May. The agreement was at least through to 2027, but there was a chance it could be in place until 2030, it said.
