(Reuters) -The United States has approved exports of Nvidia chips worth several billion dollars to the United Arab Emirates, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday.
The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security recently issued Nvidia export licenses under the terms of a bilateral artificial intelligence agreement signed in May, according to the report, citing people familiar with the matter.
The deal would boost the construction of data centers vital for the development of AI models in the UAE.
Nvidia declined to comment on the report.
“The Department of Commerce is fully committed to the transformative partnership agreement between the United States and the United Arab Emirates on AI,” a government spokesperson told Bloomberg.
The White House and the US Commerce Department did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment and White representatives from the United Arab Emirates could not immediately be reached.
The United States has a preliminary agreement with the Emirates that will allow it to import 500,000 of Nvidia’s most advanced artificial intelligence chips per year, starting in 2025, Reuters reported in May. The agreement was until at least 2027, but there was a possibility that it would be in force until 2030.
US President Donald Trump has made improving ties with some Gulf countries a key goal of his administration.
In May, Trump, while touring the Gulf region, announced $600 billion in commitments from Saudi Arabia, including deals to buy large quantities of chips from Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices and Qualcomm.
(Reporting by Yazhini MV in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Mrinmay Dey; Editing by Rashmi Aich)