The White House announced that US President Donald Trump secured $200 billion (€179 billion) deals with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during the final stop of his Persian Gulf tour. The deals prominently feature artificial intelligence (AI), alongside investments in aviation, energy, and other industrial sectors.
Following $600 billion (€536bn) in deals reached with Saudi Arabia and $243 billion (€217 billion) in agreements with Qatar, Trump concludes his Middle East trip with a total of $1.4 trillion (€1.3 trillion) in investment pledges. Trump’s Gulf visit can be seen as a win-win venture. While the US president seeks foreign investment to help revive domestic manufacturing, the three Gulf states are keen to accelerate AI development to diversify their economies away from oil dependency.
UAE to build largest AI campus outside the US
The centrepiece of the UAE deals is a 10-square-mile AI campus in Abu Dhabi, with a 5-gigawatt capacity for AI data centres. The facility will be built by G42, the UAE-based AI firm, in partnership with several US companies.
“The new AI campus, the largest outside of the US, will host American hyperscalers and large enterprises, enabling regional compute capabilities while serving the Global South,” stated the US Department of Commerce (DOC).
According to Bloomberg, Trump was weighing a deal allowing the UAE to import up to 500,000 of Nvidia’s high-performance H100 GPUs annually through 2027. One-fifth of these chips will be allocated to G42.
On Tuesday, Trump also concluded an $80 billion (€71 billion) AI investment deal with Saudi Arabia, which helped lift Nvidia and other major US tech stocks.
However, some US officials remain concerned that China could gain indirect access to advanced American AI chips via Gulf states, even though the agreements include safeguards.
“The UAE is committed to safeguarding advanced AI technologies by implementing stringent measures to prevent diversion and ensure controlled access,” the DOC stated in a media release.
“This agreement is a major milestone in achieving President Trump’s vision for US AI dominance,” said US Secretary of Commerce Howard W. Lutnick.
UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who unveiled the agreement alongside Trump, described the deal as “a testament to the ongoing collaboration between our countries in artificial intelligence.”
Other major deals
Boeing and GE Aerospace also signed an agreement with Etihad Airways, the UAE’s national carrier. Etihad will commit to a $14.5 billion (€13.1 billion) investment to purchase 28 widebody aircraft, including 787 and 777X models powered by GE engines.
Both companies were among the biggest winners from Trump’s regional tour. Just a day earlier, Boeing signed a $96 billion order with Qatar Airways. Boeing shares climbed to a 52-week high, while GE Aerospace shares hit their highest level since 2001 by market close on 15 May.
In the energy sector, US giants including ExxonMobil Corp., Occidental Petroleum Corp., and EOG Resources Inc. will partner with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) to expand oil and gas production in a deal valued at $60 billion (€54 billion).
Additional agreements include projects with Emirates Global Aluminum for aluminium smelting and gallium production.
