In a big win for the AI ambitions in the middle, the US has agreed to export advanced semiconductors to the Gulf-supported Gulf-supported two Gulf countries. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates’ G42 are allowed to buy the equivalent of up to 35,000 chips each, the US Commerce Department said yesterday (November 19), in deals set for $1 billion.
The move marks a sharp reversal from recent US moves in advanced chip shipments. The Biden administration is trying to curb such exports to markets in the Middle East, in part out of concern that advanced AI chips could be diverted to China. The Trump administration is unlikely to take that approach, instead pursuing deeper investment ties between the region and the US
Now, Washington is clearing the way for Humain and G42 to get thousands of chips equivalent to industry-leading nvidia processing units (GPUS). NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang has been a vocal advocate of lifting semiconductor restrictions and has spent a long time passing US officials to open US officials.
The new agreements reportedly include strict provisions to ensure that advanced technology does not end up being developed by foreign adversaries. “Accreditation is conditional on both companies meeting strict security and reporting requirements,” the accreditation department said in a statement, adding that it plans to continue compliance. “
The victory of Humain and the G42, whose past is supported by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, came after the crown of Saudi Arabia Mohammed Bin Salman revealed the final strategies in Washington are $ 1 trillion, from the $ 600 billion commitment made at the beginning of the year.
The AI funding rage
The new chip approvals will help the recovery and g42 as both start projects for a large web-based data center for the US chipmaker, cloud computing and model developers. Humant, founded six months ago, announced a flurry of deals this week with Amazon Web Services, Amd and Cisco to build AI infrastructure across the Kingdom.
One of the most notable sacred projects is the structured data center of 500-Megawatt of XEAI in Saudi Arabia, which represents the first non-us Hub to start Elon Musk-LED. Nvidia Chips will dominate the facility, and Huang highlighted the work during the company’s third round of fundraising yesterday (November 19). “Thanks to our deep cooperation with Elon and Xai, we were able to bring that opportunity to Saudi Arabia,” said the chipmaki center.
G42 is expanding rapidly through global AI partnerships. It is a key player in Stargate UAE, the TASTH-SCHOLE-MILE DATA HUB in Abu Dhabi involving Nvidia, Openai and Oracle, is due to go online next year. The company also received an investment of 1.5 billion from strategic partner Microsoft.
The approval of the Ministry of Commerce is expected to further strengthen the UAE’s relationship with the US, and the Gulf Nation Peldging to invest in America as it helps its AI ambitions, according to G42 CEO GROUP PEng Xiao. “This announcement marks a defining moment for the G42 and our partners as we move from planning to execution,” the statement said.