During President Donald Trump’s recent Middle East tour, a series of important AI technology agreements were reached between US companies and Gulf states, with NVIDIA securing some particularly substantial deals.
The Trump administration is clearing a path for two key Persian Gulf allies – Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – to pursue their artificial intelligence ambitions, with some of the biggest US technology companies seizing this opening with plans to spend billions in the region.
Key Deals Could Reshape Global AI Access
NVIDIA, the world’s biggest semiconductor maker, will supply its most advanced artificial intelligence-related chips to Saudi Arabia’s Humain, a company created to push that country’s AI infrastructure efforts.
Humain will get “several hundred thousand” of NVIDIA’s most advanced processors over the next five years, starting with 18,000 of its cutting-edge GB300 Grace Blackwell products and its InfiniBand networking technology.
Regulatory Shift Opens New Markets
To pave the way on AI, the US on Tuesday moved formally to rescind the so-called AI diffusion rule launched under President Joe Biden.
That measure, which created three broad tiers of access for countries seeking AI chips, had faced intense opposition from companies like NVIDIA and American allies over the constraints it placed on countries’ semiconductor purchases.
Trump administration officials are now drafting their own approach that is expected to shift toward negotiating individual deals with countries.
The US Department of Commerce (DOC) announced on Monday that it has rescinded the Artificial Intelligence Diffusion Rule, due to take effect on May 15th. The DOC said:
These new requirements would have stifled American innovation and saddled companies with burdensome new regulatory requirements. The AI Diffusion Rule also would have undermined US diplomatic relations with dozens of countries by downgrading them to second-tier status.
Business Impact: Expanded Access to Critical AI Infrastructure
For enterprises globally, these developments could impact AI adoption strategies:
- Broader hardware availability: With companies like NVIDIA, AMD, Amazon Web Services, and Cisco expanding their footprint in the Middle East, these partnerships could eventually alleviate some of the hardware supply constraints that have challenged businesses implementing AI initiatives.
- Regional data processing capabilities: Amazon.com and Humain said they would invest more than $5 billion to build an “AI zone” in Saudi Arabia. Among other projects, Humain would use technologies from the Amazon Web Services cloud unit to develop a marketplace of AI agents for use by Saudi Arabia’s government. OpenAI is considering building new data center capacity in the United Arab Emirates that could greatly expand its footprint in the Middle East, according to people familiar with the matter. This expansion provides multinational businesses with more options for regional data processing.
- Strategic infrastructure investments: Global AI, a U.S. tech venture, also plans to collaborate with Humain, in an agreement expected to be worth billions of dollars. Founded by U.S. tech industry veterans, Global AI intends to build a data center in New York that will rely on chips developed by NVIDIA, with plans for more centers.
NVIDIA’s Shifting Strategy
These Middle East deals come amid NVIDIA’s broader strategic shift.
NVIDIA is bringing production of its Blackwell chips and AI supercomputers to American soil for the first time, commissioning over one million square feet of manufacturing space across Arizona and Texas. The company has partnered with TSMC, Foxconn, Wistron, Amkor, and SPIL to generate up to half a trillion dollars of AI infrastructure within the next four years.
Jensen Huang, NVIDIA’s founder and CEO said:
The engines of the world’s AI infrastructure are being built in the United States for the first time. Adding American manufacturing helps us better meet the incredible and growing demand for AI chips and supercomputers, strengthens our supply chain and boosts our resiliency.
Challenges and Considerations
While these developments offer new opportunities, businesses should note some potential challenges:
The Trump administration’s eagerness to lower barriers for allies like the UAE drew some objections from China hawks in Washington, who see a risk that Beijing could either acquire physical chips from the UAE or tap the capabilities of those semiconductors via the cloud.
Meanwhile, Huawei continues developing alternatives to NVIDIA’s products, including its CloudMatrix AI technology designed to rival NVIDIA’s NVL72. According to industry sources, Huawei aims to produce approximately 750,000 AI chips this year despite US restrictions.
For global enterprises, these developments signal both new opportunities and a potentially more complex landscape requiring thoughtful infrastructure planning across different regions.
