Sheikh Tahnoon to lobby US to ease UAE microchip controls

• New cap on microchip sales due
• UAE wants easier access to US tech
• Sheikh likely to meet top politicians

The UAE’s national security adviser, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is to travel to Washington to try to convince the Trump administration to ease export controls on advanced semiconductors.

Sheikh Tahnoon, the brother of the UAE’s president, will press US cabinet officials for easier access for the UAE to American technology and discuss further Emirati investment in the US, Bloomberg reported.

The meeting, which is said to have come at the request of Trump himself, is likely to include the US secretaries of commerce, the treasury and national security. It is not yet clear if President Trump will be involved.

• US clears export of advanced AI chips to UAE

• Tighter US chip rules offer challenges and opportunities

• UAE bypasses Nvidia chip restrictions to grow AI capabilities

The UAE has been buying up quantities of microchips from companies such as Nvidia and investing in data centres and AI capabilities. But geopolitical complications and high global demand have made procurement increasingly complicated.

The US has limited exports of advanced chips to the UAE since 2023. A new set of regulations from early this year is slated to cap the total computing power for most countries, including the UAE. 

Under the US’s latest chip restriction rules, introduced in January but due to be enforced in May, the UAE is given a “second-tier” designation, meaning chip exports are limited to 50,000 advanced processors, with more possible in exchange for security commitments.

Central to the US’s concerns surrounding the UAE is the country’s relationship with China.

US efforts to limit the processing power of the UAE and other countries clash with the UAE’s stated aim of becoming a regional and global AI leader.

Part of the UAE’s effort to circumvent restrictions has meant working closely with American companies such as Microsoft, which holds a stake in G42, the UAE’s national AI champion, itself controlled by Sheikh Tahnoon.