The American government has approved several billion dollars’ worth of Nvidia Artificial Intelligence (AI) chip exports to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), marking the first such licenses under President Donald Trump and a major step in his administration’s strategy to expand the influence of the United States (US) in the Gulf’s AI sector.

The US Commerce Department issued the export approvals after the UAE committed to matching investments in the US, part of a broader AI partnership announced in May. The deal underpins plans for a five-gigawatt data centre in Abu Dhabi, where OpenAI is an anchor tenant alongside Oracle.

The agreement comes amid concern in Washington that China could exploit Gulf technology ties. US officials said the move aims to cement American leadership in AI infrastructure while ensuring that sensitive chips are managed by approved US data-centre operators.