U.S. President Donald Trump and Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia stand for a photo with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and other participants at the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum at the Kennedy Center on Nov. 19, 2025 in Washington, DC.
The U.S. has approved sales of advanced Nvidia chips to Saudi Arabia's HUMAIN and the United Arab Emirates' G42, authorizing the state-backed firms to buy up to 35,000 chips, worth an estimated $1 billion.
The approval of these chip exports marks a major reversal for the U.S., which had previously balked at the idea of direct exports to state-backed AI companies in the Gulf. Export controls were put into place to avoid advanced American technology making its way to China through the back door of Gulf Arab states.
Before former President Joe Biden left office in January, he administered a final round of export restrictions on advanced AI chips, targeting companies like Nvidia, in a sweeping effort to keep that cutting-edge U.S. intellectual property out of China's reach.
Now, President Donald Trump is moving to expand the reach of such advanced technology in order to "promote continued American AI dominance and global technological leadership," the U.S. Commerce Department said in a statement published on Wednesday.
The U.S. Commerce Department approved the chip exports, with the condition the state-backed AI outfits agree to "rigorous security and reporting requirements," overseen by the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security.