President Donald Trump said on Friday, during his last stop on a Gulf tour focused on business deals, that the United Arab Emirates and the United States had agreed on a path for the Gulf country to purchase advanced AI semiconductors from U.S. companies, marking a major win for Abu Dhabi’s efforts to become a global AI hub.
Trump also wrapped up his Gulf tour of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE with a pledge by oil power Abu Dhabi – the UAE’s capital and richest emirate – to hike the value of its energy investments in the U.S. to $440 billion in the next decade.
Trump departed for Washington after whirlwind meetings with leaders in the Gulf aimed at securing financial commitments from the wealthy energy producers that could boost the U.S. economy and create jobs.
Reuters reports that in March, when senior UAE officials met Trump, the UAE had committed to a 10-year, $1.4 trillion investment framework in the U.S. in sectors including energy, AI and manufacturing to deepen reciprocal ties.
“We’re making great progress for the $1.4 (trillion) that UAE has announced it intends to spend in the United States,” Trump said in Abu Dhabi, at the end of the four-day tour that has concentrated, at least publicly, on investment, not security crises in the Middle East, including Israel’s war in Gaza.
His public diplomacy was limited to a meeting with Syria’s new interim leader after deciding to remove sanctions on Syria at the behest of Saudi Arabia, in a major shift in U.S. policy.
The AI deal is a boost for the UAE, which has been trying to balance its relations with its longtime ally the U.S. and its largest trading partner China.
According to Reuters, it reflects the Trump administration’s confidence that the chips can be managed securely, in part by requiring data centres be managed by U.S. companies.
“Yesterday the two countries also agreed to create a path for UAE to buy some of the world’s most advanced AI semiconductors from American companies, a very big contract,” Trump said.
“This will generate billions and billions of dollars in business and accelerate the UAE’s plans to become a really major player in artificial intelligence,” he added.
New deals announced with UAE, totalling over $200 billion, included a $14.5 billion commitment from Etihad Airways to invest in 28 American-made Boeing aircraft.
