Nvidia to Send AI Chips to Saudi Arabia as UAE Plans New Data Center

The United States is deepening its involvement in the global buildout of artificial intelligence infrastructure, backing new chip and data center deals in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The projects signal a shift in how and where high-end AI compute is being deployed, as American firms and political actors support expanding access to advanced U.S. hardware in allied nations beyond traditional tech centers.

The Gulf region, backed by massive sovereign wealth and strategic partnerships, is emerging as a new hub for AI development. At the center of these efforts are thousands of Nvidia H100 chips—the same processors used to train today’s most powerful AI models.

While the deals are structured as private-sector agreements, they are part of a broader push to position U.S. technology in geopolitically aligned countries, especially as restrictions tighten on exports to China and other adversaries.

Infrastructure and Scope

The Saudi deal includes 18,000 Nvidia H100 chips, widely used to train and run large-scale machine learning models. The agreement is being coordinated by Humain, a state-backed AI infrastructure company launched earlier this year by Saudi Arabia and funded by the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund. According to Axios, Humain was formed to accelerate Saudi Arabia’s role in AI infrastructure and development.

In the UAE, a separate project is also underway to build a new AI data center, though fewer details have been disclosed publicly. Axios reports the effort is part of broader U.S.-Gulf partnerships focused on deploying advanced AI hardware and infrastructure.

Both projects reflect sovereign-backed efforts to build AI infrastructure at scale, using some of the most advanced U.S. hardware currently available.

Oversight and Concerns

The deals come at a time when the U.S. is tightening controls on where AI chips can be exported, particularly to China and other countries of concern. While the Gulf nations are not subject to those restrictions, the expansion of frontier compute into new regions raises ongoing questions about long-term oversight and how AI capabilities are distributed worldwide.

There are no public details about enforcement mechanisms or restrictions tied to the current chip deals, and it remains unclear what limits—if any—exist on how the hardware may be used once deployed.

That uncertainty has drawn criticism. In a statement Friday, a group of Democratic lawmakers warned that President Trump had announced the deals “to export very large volumes of advanced AI chips to the UAE and Saudi Arabia without credible security assurances to prevent U.S. adversaries from accessing those chips.”

The statement continued: “These deals pose a significant threat to U.S. national security and fundamentally undermine bipartisan efforts to ensure the United States remains the global leader in AI. Rather than putting America first, this deal puts the Gulf first.”

Critics argue that once high-end AI chips are exported, monitoring how they are stored, shared, or repurposed becomes difficult, especially in regions with close economic ties to China. While the Gulf nations are currently seen as U.S. partners, the long-term control over advanced hardware remains a key open question.

At the same time, U.S. agencies are signaling involvement. In announcing the U.S.-UAE partnership, the Department of Commerce—whose approval is required for parts of the deal—said the cooperation will meet “robust U.S. security standards and other efforts to responsibly deploy AI infrastructure, both in the UAE and globally.”

These developments represent more than just infrastructure investments—they signal a fundamental shift in the global AI landscape.

What This Means

The Gulf is becoming a new center of gravity for AI infrastructure—and the U.S. is helping build it. These agreements mark a significant moment in the global distribution of compute. For the first time, tens of thousands of the most powerful AI chips developed in the U.S. are being exported to countries outside the traditional tech power centers—with strategic backing from American actors.

While framed as commercial partnerships, the stakes are geopolitical. Once advanced chips leave U.S. borders, the ability to control how they're used—or who gains access to their output—becomes more difficult. Gulf nations are moving quickly to establish themselves as AI players, investing heavily in compute capacity, data centers, and national strategies.

For U.S. firms, these partnerships open access to wealthy, tech-ambitious markets and expand American influence over how AI is developed abroad. For Gulf nations, they offer a fast track to building domestic AI capabilities in a field long dominated by the U.S. and China.

For the AI industry, this raises urgent questions:

• Who gets to build with frontier compute?

• How are strategic decisions about chip exports being made?

• And what trade-offs come with enabling rapid AI expansion in geopolitically sensitive regions?

These are no longer theoretical questions. These deals show that AI development is no longer just a matter of innovation—it’s a matter of global alignment, resource control, and strategic risk.

Editor’s Note: This article was created by Alicia Shapiro, CMO of AiNews.com, with writing, image, and idea-generation support from ChatGPT, an AI assistant. However, the final perspective and editorial choices are solely Alicia Shapiro’s. Special thanks to ChatGPT for assistance with research and editorial support in crafting this article.