UAE to push for easier access to US chip technology, Blooomberg News reports

Audio By Carbonatix

Enlarge

(Reuters) -A top United Arab Emirates official plans to visit Washington to press for easier access to American technology and discuss investment in the U.S., Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE’s national security adviser and brother of the country’s president, is expected to meet U.S. President Trump’s cabinet officials as soon as next week, the report said.

These officials would likely include Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, though it remains unclear if the president will participate.

At the start of the year, the U.S. government tightened restrictions on the export of artificial intelligence chips, such as those made by Nvidia, while finding ways to block China’s access to the advanced technology.

Under the regulations, countries such as Japan, Britain, South Korea and the Netherlands would essentially be exempt from the rules while others, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Singapore, will face some caps.

The U.S. Commerce Department and the Abu Dhabi Media Office did not respond to Reuters requests for comment, while an Nvidia spokesperson declined to comment.

The UAE, a wealthy oil producer, is keen on gaining increased access to American technology to build its own advanced tech industry, but the U.S. has expressed concerns about its warm relationship with China.

Sheikh Tahnoon’s visit comes at the request of the Trump administration, the Bloomberg report said.

(Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Alan Barona)