(Bloomberg) -- The Trump administration plans to ease export restrictions on the United Arab Emirates, clearing the way for the Gulf state to buy a wide range of advanced technologies including commercial satellites and semiconductors used for artificial intelligence.
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Under a notice set to publish next week, the Commerce Department said that the UAE now qualifies for easier treatment under US export control laws, citing steps taken by the emirate to safeguard sensitive American technology. The rule change posted Friday by the department's Bureau of Industry and Security also cited the UAE's support for the US in the war against Iran.
Easing export restrictions opens the door for ventures in the UAE to begin buying cutting-edge AI chips from Nvidia Corp., Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Cerebras Systems Inc. as planned under a deal reached between the US and the country more than a year ago. That agreement called for the companies to supply G42, the Emirati state-backed tech champion, with thousands of processors for use in new AI data centers in the region.
In recent years, the UAE has directed considerable amounts of the nation's oil wealth — and political capital — toward computing infrastructure, part of an effort to become an AI hub for the region as well as the global South. That was before the US and Israeli war against Iran, during which multiple data centers have been hit in the Gulf, leading to concerns about the region's ability to attract overseas tech investments.
With the move, the administration has shifted the UAE to a new country category that gives it more access to high-tech US products, bringing more exemptions from licensing requirements. The UAE government and certain approved commercial ventures will have license-free access to advanced computing equipment, according to the notice.
The notice cited the growing trade ties between the US and UAE, highlighting what it estimated as foreign direct investment from the emirates valued at more than $1 trillion in areas ranging from AI and metals to aviation and energy.
--With assistance from Mark Bergen. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek
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