By Hadeel Al Sayegh
DUBAI (Reuters) -The United States and United Arab Emirates have finalised a technology framework agreement that is expected to be signed later on Thursday during President Donald Trump’s last stop of his three-country Gulf tour, a source with knowledge of the matter said.
The agreement requires commitments on both sides to the security of technology, the source said.
A deal with the U.S., which has for years pursued increasingly protectionist policies to curb China’s access to advanced semiconductors, would be a major win for the UAE, which is seeking to become a global powerhouse in artificial intelligence (AI).
The White House, U.S. Commerce Department and the foreign ministries of the UAE and China did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Reuters reported on Wednesday that Washington and Abu Dhabi were close to a deal that would allow the UAE to import 500,000 of Nvidia’s most advanced AI chips per year, starting in 2025.
(Reporting by Hadeel Al Sayegh in Dubai, additional reporting by Federico Maccioni in Dubai, Laurie Chen in Beijing and Alexandra Alper in Washington, DC; Writing by Yousef Saba; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Elaine Hardcastle)
