Trump helps Gulf states turn into AI powers amid China fears – DW – 05/21/2025 | EUROtoday

One of the marquee occasions of US President Donald Trump’s latest journey to the Middle East was a high-powered lunch on the royal court docket in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh.

The visitor listing of these becoming a member of Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman caught the attention. Alongside Tesla chief confidante Elon Musk had been among the largest names in international synthetic intelligence (AI) — Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, Sam Altman of ChatGPT mother or father OpenAI, Google president Ruth Porat and Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, to call just a few.

Their collective presence quickly made sense, when a number of US tech corporations introduced a variety of offers with Saudi Arabia on AI funding value tens of billions of {dollars} in the course of the Trump go to.

Among probably the most eye-catching: Nvidia agreed to promote a whole lot of 1000’s of high-end chips to Humain, a brand new state-back Saudi AI enterprise unveiled the day earlier than Trump arrived. Meanwhile the chip designer Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and chipmaker Qualcomm additionally made main commitments.

China hawks on alert

It comes as Saudi Arabia ramps up funding in synthetic intelligence and because the Trump administration seeks to cement US supremacy in machine studying and the manufacturing of high-end semiconductors.

Karen E. Young, a Middle East skilled on the Columbia University Center on Global Energy Policy in New York, believes the US and Saudi Arabia are pure companions in terms of synthetic intelligence, resulting from Riyadh’s capability to construct and run information facilities.

“They are able to deploy enormous electricity supply from gas and solar power and they do not hesitate in regulatory issues or citing for data centers or power plants and can deploy quickly. This gives them an advantage,” she advised DW.

Yet the deal spree has led to criticism in Washington, together with from inside Trump’s administration. The critics’ argument is that offering high-end chips to Middle Eastern nations may in the end profit China within the international race for AI supremacy with the US.

China has deep business and political ties within the Middle East and a few imagine chips bought by the US to the area may find yourself discovering their method to China.

In order to promote AI-capable chips to the Middle East, the Trump administration scrapped guidelines launched by former US President Joe Biden in direction of the top of his time in workplace in 2024 prohibiting their sale to sure nations, together with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Companies reminiscent of Microsoft and Nvidia had criticized this so-called AI Diffusion Rule, saying it stifled innovation.

However, the widespread fears over potential Chinese entry is mirrored in the truth that the US House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party has launched new laws “to stop advanced US AI chips from falling into the hands of adversaries like the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).”

Martin Chorzempa, an skilled on China with the Peterson Institute for International Economics, says whether or not China advantages depends upon whether or not it’s “able to access the chips or the models they produce or run.”

“There is a concern that China may be able to either divert the chips themselves or gain access remotely to them,” he advised DW.

David Sacks, chair of Trump’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and the self-styled White House AI czar, pushed again strongly in opposition to criticism that the Gulf offers may gain advantage China in a submit on messaging platform X.

The different was to “exclude critical geo-strategic, resource-rich friends and allies from our AI ecosystem,” he wrote, including: “Every country will want to participate in the AI revolution. If we align with them, we will pull them into our orbit. If we reject them, we will drive them into China’s arms.”

Gulf states get critical about AI

Whatever about China, it’s clear that Saudi Arabia and the UAE have main AI ambitions as they give the impression of being to cut back their financial dependence on oil.

“Saudi Arabia is very serious about AI as a strategic sector for diversification,” mentioned Karen E. Young. “It plays to its assets in abundant energy supply, and it allows the kingdom a bridge to future energy demand.”

She considers the UAE “likely more advanced” in AI growth than Saudi Arabia, having pushed it from an earlier date.

Another deal introduced throughout Trump’s Gulf tour noticed the US and UAE conform to construct the biggest AI campus outdoors the US, with the settlement giving the UAE entry to US-made superior chips.

The UAE has established a know-how group referred to as G42 as its most important AI outlet, with Microsoft having already invested greater than $1.5 billion (€1.34 billion).

For US corporations searching for funding, the Gulf states more and more characterize a beautiful alternative given their very own enthusiasm to develop and their management of among the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds.

Humanthe brand new Saudi car, is totally owned by the county’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) which has near $1 trillion at its disposal. The PIF beforehand launched different AI ventures, whereas state oil firm Saudi Aramco has struck partnerships with US chipmakers Cerebras and Groq.

“These places have two of the most important ingredients to become major AI powers, and are lacking now just computing and talent,” mentioned Martin Chorzempa. “But with enough power, capital, and it appears soon chips, the talent may flock there.”

According to Karen E. Young, entry to superior tech is a “national priority” for Saudi Arabia, and Trump’s willingness to have interaction as a “transactional issue rather than a security issue or policy challenge” helps that purpose.

Yet, whereas the flurry of funding seems to place the Gulf states on a strong footing to turn into very important AI hubs of the long run, consultants imagine it’s not robotically going to be “win-win.”

Chorzempa, for instance, sees a threat that native corporations, unconstrained by capital or power considerations, may develop their very own fashions to compete with the US. He additionally factors to the likelihood that China won’t essentially profit from acquiring the chips themselves, however by sending its individuals to work within the area and study.

“One of the most interesting questions is whether Chinese AI talent, which is top-notch and may not be able to come to the United States, can get access to the main ingredient they are missing — chips — by working in the Middle East,” he mentioned. “This will be a key US concern.”

Edited by: Uwe Hessler