US-UAE Science & Technology Agreement back on the table
UAE reconfirms commitment to $1.4 trillion US investment over next decade
#UnitedArabEmirates #bilaterals – The United States and United Arab Emirates held their eleventh Economic Policy Dialogue in Abu Dhabi on 15 January 2026, according to a UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement. Discussions covered trade and investment, the US-UAE AI Acceleration Partnership, the Pax Silica agreement signed by the UAE earlier this month and a potential Science and Technology Agreement, proposed by the Biden administration in 2023. UAE Minister of State H.E. Saeed Mubarak Al Hajeri and US Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg co-chaired the dialogue, addressing a wide range of bilateral issues. The UAE reiterated its commitment to invest $1.4 trillion in the United States over the next decade, with bilateral non-oil trade reaching $19.3 billion in the first half of 2025, representing 3.4 per cent year-on-year growth.
SO WHAT? – The meeting agenda confirms how AI and other advanced technologies have become central to US-UAE economic relations. The AI Acceleration Partnership signed during President Trump’s May 2025 visit, created pathways for American companies to export advanced AI chips to entities in the UAE. The proposed Science and Technology Agreement, first discussed in November 2023 during the last full Economic Policy Dialogue, could formalise R&D collaboration frameworks covering AI, quantum computing, genomics, space exploration and other high-tech research areas. US bilateral S&T agreements typically include frameworks for extending collaboration on research, co-funding of joint research, joint research centres, scientific exchanges and education programmes.
Here are some key points about the meeting and agenda:
The United States and United Arab Emirates held their eleventh Economic Policy Dialogue in Abu Dhabi on 15 January 2026, co-chaired by UAE Minister of State His Excellency Saeed Mubarak Al Hajeri and US Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg.
Discussions covered trade and investment, the US-UAE AI Acceleration Partnership, the Pax Silica semiconductor supply chain initiatives and a proposed Science and Technology Agreement *first raised during the tenth dialogue in November 2023 under President Biden’s administration).
A proposed Science and Technology Agreement would establish frameworks for extending collaboration on research and development, co-funding of joint research, joint research centres, scientific exchanges and education programmes covering AI, quantum computing, genomics and space exploration.
Both sides reviewed progress on the five-gigawatt AI campus under construction in the UAE, described as the world’s largest AI campus outside the United States, with technology companies, public entities, academic institutions and research centres benefitting through access to infrastructure and innovation partnerships.
The AI Acceleration Partnership, signed during President Trump’s May 2025 UAE visit, created pathways for US companies to export advanced AI semiconductors to American entities in the UAE and trusted UAE entities, unlocking significant Emirati investment into US AI infrastructure, research centres and cloud architecture.
The UAE officially joined the US-led Pax Silica Declaration on 14 January 2026, aiming to build secure, resilient and innovation-driven supply chains for technologies foundational to the AI era through investment, infrastructure development and international partnerships.
Bilateral non-oil trade reached $19.3 billion in the first half of 2025, representing 3.4 per cent year-on-year growth, with total non-oil trade surpassing $38 billion in 2024, supporting American industries including energy, aviation and technology.
The UAE committed to invest $1.4 trillion in the United States over the next decade, strengthening its position as America’s largest regional economic partner, with the UAE maintaining status as the largest US trade partner in the Gulf region for nearly two decades.
ZOOM OUT – The US and the UAE signed an AI Acceleration Partnership during President Donald J. Trump’s official visit to the UAE in May 2025. The first output of the agreement was the agreement to build a UAE-US AI cluster in Abu Dhabi with 5 gigawatts of data centre capacity. The agreement also allows the Emirates to import hundreds of thousands of the most advanced AI processors annually until 2027, with potential extension until 2030, reversing Biden-era restrictions on AI chip export controls. The landmark framework includes a reciprocal investment provision committing the UAE to match any investment in building regional data centres with equivalent investment in the United States. Stargate UAE, the first deal under the framework announced by G42, Cisco, OpenAI, Oracle, NVIDIA and SoftBank Group, will cost more than $30 billion to build and represents the first international deployment of OpenAI’s $500 billion Stargate Project, with 200 megawatts of capacity planned online by end of 2026.
[Written and edited with the assistance of AI]
Read more about recent US-UAE tech initiatives:
US approves billions in Nvidia UAE sales (Middle East AI News)
New US-UAE agreement sure to accelerate G42’s US plans (Middle East AI News)
Tech leaders unite to build Stargate UAE AI hub (Middle East AI News)
UAE-US to build 5GW data centre in Abu Dhabi (Middle East AI News)
Thanks for writing this, it clarifies a lot. The integration of advanced tech like AI into bilateral relations is indeed a profound developement to watch.