US to ease AI chip export rules for UAE
Washington upgrades UAE’s export status, G42 cleared for license-free chips imports
#UAE #AIchips - The US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security has upgraded the United Arab Emirates to its highest export control tier, Country Group A:5, citing the UAE’s status as a ‘Major Defense Partner’. The move lets the UAE government and approved firms, including Abu Dhabi’s AI holding company G42, along with US firms such as Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle and xAI, import advanced AI chips and servers into the UAE without individual export licences. The change builds on the US-UAE AI Acceleration Partnership signed in May 2025 during President Donald Trump’s UAE visit.
SO WHAT? - Removing licence requirements strips out a major bottleneck that has restriccted the UAE’s AI infrastructure build-out over the past three years. The UAE’s new EAR export status replaces case-by-case approvals with blanket clearance for named partners. It confirms Washington now treats UAE-based compute capacity, led by Abu Dhabi-based G42 group, as core to US AI strategy rather than a security risk to be managed deal by deal. The BIS noted in its announcement that the change in EAR status was warranted in light of the ongoing U.S.-UAE military partnership and the UAE’s commitment to preventing the misuse of sensitive U.S. technology.
KEY POINTS:
The US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has reclassified the United Arab Emirates as Country Group A:5, the top export control tier. It has also removed the UAE from EAR Country Groups D:3 and D:4, lifting restrictions on access to advanced technologies, including support for the UAE’s unmanned aerial vehicle programmes.
The reclassification grants license-free exports under License Exception Strategic Trade Authorization (STA) of Commerce-controlled “military items; certain commercial satellites and spacecraft; and dual-use items useful in oil and gas production, desalination, civil nuclear power generation, and/or other items available to Country Group A:5 destinations license-free”.
The Department of Commerce is now approving the UAE Government and certain companies to receive advanced computing exports in the UAE licence-free, including AI chips and servers.
The UAE government, AI holding group G42, plus US companies and subsidiaries operating in the country no longer need licences for Ai chips and high-end servers. Companies that could benefit from the change in regulation include Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle and xAI.
The move builds on the US-UAE AI Acceleration Partnership signed in May 2025, under which the UAE committed to matching its regional investments in US AI digital infrastructure with equivalent investments in the US.
The framework previously allowed the UAE to import up to 500,000 advanced Nvidia AI chips annually, with G42 directly receiving a 20% share of that quota.
The first batch of advanced US chips arrived in the UAE in May 2026, following the first interagency meeting of the US-UAE AI Acceleration Partnership Working Group in March 2026.
G42 is leading construction of a 5GW AI technology cluster in Abu Dhabi spanning 10 square miles, in partnership with OpenAI, Nvidia, Oracle and Cisco; its first 250 megawatts of capacity comes online this year (although unconfirmed estimates of 300MW and 500MW have been quoted by officials this year).
The UAE has reaffirmed a $1.4 trillion commitment to US investment over the next decade, spanning AI infrastructure, energy and manufacturing, alongside its participation in the Pax Silica framework covering AI, critical minerals and supply chains.
ZOOM OUT – The US-UAE AI Acceleration Partnership agreement signed in May 2025 includes plans to establish a regional artificial intelligence technology cluster in Abu Dhabi with 5GW capacity, which would be the largest AI data centre deployment outside the United States. Abu Dhabi-based AI company G42 is leading design and construction of the facility spanning 10 square miles in partnership with US companies including OpenAI, NVIDIA, Oracle and Cisco. The strategic location will enable US hyperscalers to provide low-latency services to nearly half the global population living within 3,200 kilometres of the UAE. The agreement reportedly allowed the UAE to import 500,000 advanced AI chips from the US per annum, with G42 receiving 20 percent of the quota. According to the UAE Ambassador to the USA H.E. Yousef Al Otaiba, the first batch of AI chips imported under the agreement was received in the country in May 2026.
[Written and edited with the assistance of AI]
Source: US Department of Commerce, MEAIN
LINKS
BIS press release on export controls for UAE (US Dept. of Commerce)
Read more about US Ai technology exports to the UAE:
US affirms ‘ironclad’ commitments in UAE AI Agreement (Middle East AI News)
US approves billions in Nvidia UAE sales (Middle East AI News)
Tech leaders unite to build Stargate UAE AI hub (Middle East AI News)
New US-UAE agreement sure to accelerate G42’s US plans (Middle East AI News)
UAE-US to launch AI cluster with 5GW data centre (Middle East AI News)