By Karen Freifeld
July 10 (Reuters) – The U.S. loosened export controls on the United Arab Emirates on Friday, making it easier to export Nvidia AI chips, military equipment, commercial satellites and spacecraft in a boost to relations between the two allies.
The announcement underscores strengthening U.S.-UAE relations, with the Gulf ally playing an increasingly important role in Washington’s strategy toward Iran, while creating revenue opportunities for U.S. companies, particularly tech firms.
The UAE government and approved companies will now be able to access advanced computing items license-free, the posting in the Federal Register, the government’s official journal, said.
UAE companies G42 and Core42 and U.S. companies and their subsidiaries operating in the country, including Amazon, Apple, and xAI, are among those that no longer need licenses for AI chips and servers.
In providing the more favorable treatment for certain exports to the UAE, the Commerce Department said the U.S. had worked with the country for decades to counter Iran and its proxies, including Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis.
“More recently, the UAE played a key role advancing U.S. interests during Operation Epic Fury,” the posting said, referring to the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran that began in February.
Additionally, it noted, the UAE was the largest U.S. trading partner in the Middle East, and that its foreign direct investment in the United States was valued at over $1 trillion.
Under the new regulation, the Commerce Department moved the UAE into a country grouping that allows more license exceptions for military and dual-use items controlled by the department.
The UAE will be the only country in the group that is not a member of multilateral export control regimes. Other countries in the grouping include NATO countries and other allies.
Other countries in the region such as Israel and Saudi Arabia are not members of that group.
In addition to the items mentioned, the change will also allow license-free access for certain exports involved in oil and gas production and civil nuclear power generation.
Besides Amazon, Apple and xAI, U.S. companies that will no longer need licenses to receive advanced computing items in the UAE include Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI and Oracle, the Commerce Department posting said.
In addition, the posting said, the department plans to “favorably review” export license applications for chips and servers to UAE company MGX.
In 2025, the U.S. reached a preliminary agreement with the UAE to allow it to import hundreds of thousands of Nvidia AI chips. On Friday, the Commerce Department said the license-free access for the UAE government and approved companies was consistent with the finalized May 2025 framework.
Licenses for companies like G42 were contentious when they were granted, in part because of the potential for the companies to serve Chinese customers. Under this new regime, there will no longer be room for debate within the administration, said a former Commerce Department official.
But the move has already raised the hackles of Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee.
“We already know that the UAE royal behind G42 and MGX secretly bought a 49% stake in the Trump crypto company, World Liberty Financial,” Warren said in a statement.
“Now, Trump’s Commerce Department is giving G42 license-free access to advanced AI chips and promising favorable treatment for MGX, despite reported concerns about the diversion of sensitive technology to China and other national security risks.”
The Commerce Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Karen Freifeld; Additional reporting by Daphne Psaledakis and David Shepardson. Editing by Doina Chiacu and Andrea Ricci)
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