Trump’s UAE Chip Deal Is a National Security Risk
Risky business.
Photographer: Giuseppe Cacace/AFP/Getty Images
The United Arab Emirates has spent years seeking access to advanced US chips to help cement its position as a technology hub and fuel its AI aspirations. The Biden administration, concerned that cutting-edge semiconductors might also find their way from Abu Dhabi to Beijing, rebuffed them. The Trump administration did not.
About two months after President Donald Trump’s inauguration early last year, the UAE promised to invest $1.4 trillion in the US over a 10-year period. During those talks, Trump met personally with Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Sheikh Tahnoon plays formidable commercial and political roles in the UAE. He is the president’s brother; oversees one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds; is chairman of two AI companies (MGX and G42), and supervises the country’s intelligence apparatus as its national security adviser.