America Signs Century Deals in the Middle East, Yet Worried About China

U.S. President Donald Trump visited the Middle East this week and signed multiple artificial intelligence (AI) agreements with Arab countries, which sparked divisions within the U.S. government. According to知情 sources cited by Bloomberg on Thursday, May 15, some senior U.S. officials are seeking to slow down the pace of these agreements out of concern that the U.S. does not have sufficient safeguards to prevent chips shipped to the Middle East from ultimately benefiting China.

In the AI agreement reached between the Trump administration and Saudi Arabia, American companies NVIDIA and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) will provide tens of thousands of chips.

As for the UAE, Reuters reported that the country is expected to import 500,000 of NVIDIA's most advanced AI chips annually starting from 2025. The two countries will also establish an AI data park, which will be the largest outside the United States. On Thursday, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang appeared in Abu Dhabi to speak with Trump and UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

This agreement represents a significant victory for the UAE, which has been trying to balance its relations with its long-time ally America and its largest trading partner China. Senior researcher Soliman at the Middle East Institute believes that the new agreement allows the UAE to deepen its technological partnership with the U.S. while maintaining trade relations with China.

Soliman pointed out that this does not mean the UAE will abandon its relationship with China but rather "readjust its technology strategy" to align with U.S. standards in computing, cloud, and chip supply chains.

It is worth noting that although the data center in the agreement will be managed by American companies, insiders revealed that White House AI Director Saacks hopes to include security clauses in U.S.-Gulf AI agreements to address national security concerns.

The negotiation team is currently drafting relevant terms, which may include avoiding the transfer of U.S. chips to China and prohibiting Chinese AI companies from remotely accessing equipment in the UAE.

However, American officials with a hardline stance toward China remain concerned, as many details of the terms are either undetermined or lack legal binding force. Additionally, some proposals put forward by Gulf states to Saacks may pose national security risks to the U.S.

For example, Saudi Arabia originally wanted to install U.S. chips in equipment containing Chinese hardware; this proposal was rejected by the U.S. delegation, but Saacks later suggested that the U.S. side should at least evaluate its feasibility. For those officials who view Chinese enterprises as a "red line" in Washington's policy toward China, this is unacceptable.

Moreover, although the current agreements do not yet include TSMC's establishment of a factory, the UAE has always hoped to allow TSMC to set up an advanced process base locally, hoping to gain U.S. support. Saacks is open to this idea, but some hardline officials in the U.S. raise security concerns, especially since the UAE has close ties with China, supporting its ambition to manufacture AI chips domestically, which could create unnecessary national security risks.

Gulf States Seek Balance Between China and the U.S.

Besides national security risks, some U.S. officials are also concerned that sending large amounts of advanced U.S. chips overseas might cause the U.S. to lose its world-leading position in semiconductors.

However, Saacks and others argue that if the U.S. does not encourage countries to use U.S. chips, many countries with ambitions in AI may turn to Chinese enterprises, ultimately harming the advantages held by U.S. companies like NVIDIA globally and further narrowing the gap between the U.S. and China. Saacks said on Tuesday in Riyadh that America's export control policies have never aimed to suppress or restrict the development of allies and strategic partners.

In recent years, the U.S. has not only sanctioned Chinese enterprises but also introduced a series of technology export control measures to restrict China's AI development and prevent advanced U.S. technologies from being used to promote competitors' military industries.

Source: DW

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1832269871112201/

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