When Donald Trump touched down in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) earlier this year, he arrived not just with headlines, but with deals, ambition, and AI firepower.
The US president was given a royal welcome, but the real centrepiece of the visit was the announcement of a sprawling new AI campus – a joint UAE-US initiative.
Billed as the largest AI infrastructure hub outside the US, it symbolised the Gulf’s boldest bid yet to plant itself at the heart of the global AI map.
Trump’s visit to the Gulf also coincided with a strategic shift, which saw the White House easing restrictions on exporting the most powerful microchips from US firm Nvidia to both the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
This move underscored how much the US now sees its Gulf allies as partners in a wider technological alliance.
The Gulf states are deploying their sovereign wealth, geography, and energy edge (lots of oil) to position themselves as AI hubs. Technology is central to their plans to reduce future dependence on earnings from fossil fuels.