This is the final leg of his Middle East trip, after Trump ended his speech to US soldiers at the Al Udeid base in Qatar.
According to Reuters, in the UAE, Mr. Trump is expected to meet President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and senior leaders, with a focus on AI cooperation. The UAE leadership expects the US to support the country in realizing its ambition to become a global power in the field of artificial intelligence.
Accordingly, the US and the UAE have reached a preliminary agreement on allowing the Gulf country to import 500,000 of Nvidia's most advanced AI chips per year, starting this year.
This agreement will promote the construction of data centers in the UAE - a key factor in developing modern AI models. However, some agencies in the US government have expressed concern about national security, and the terms of the deal may change.
During the Middle East trip, a series of major economic agreements were signed. Qatar Airways has agreed to buy up to 210 wide-body aircraft from Boeing, Saudi Arabia has pledged to invest $600 billion in the US and reached an agreement to buy US weapons worth $142 billion. In addition, Mr. Trump also surprised everyone when he announced that the US would lift long-standing sanctions on Syria, and met with interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa of the country.
The government of former President Joe Biden has imposed strict restrictions on the export of AI chip to the Middle East because of concerns they could be transferred to China and supported Beijing's military potential. In this context, the chip agreement, if fully implemented, will bring the Gulf area, especially the UAE, becoming the third power center in the competition of AI Global, besides the US and China.
