US Chip Deals With Middle East Lack Safeguards, Democratic Lawmakers Say
Seven Senate and House Democrats issued a joint statement May 16 criticizing the Trump administration’s reported new AI agreements with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, saying the deals don't have “credible security assurances” to prevent U.S. “adversaries” from accessing advanced American chips.
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Among the lawmakers’ concerns is that “these deals will provide our highest-end chips” to UAE-based Group 42 Holdings (G42), which has a “well-documented history of cooperation” with China. The statement says that recent efforts to limit U.S. chip exports to China “will be for nothing if G42 or other companies with ties to China are given large quantities of our most advanced chips.”
The lawmakers also worry the agreements will “deprive American AI developers of highly sought-after chips needed here and slow the U.S. AI buildout.” They fear that U.S. AI firms will be incentivized to move facilities to the Middle East, making the U.S. reliant on foreign countries for AI.
The statement was issued by House Select Committee on China ranking member Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill.; Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.; Sens. Chris Coons, D-Del., Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., Jack Reed, D-R.I., and Mark Warner, D-Va.; and Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn. Krishnamoorthi released a similar, shorter statement on his own May 13 (see 2505130043).
The White House didn't respond to requests for comment, but David Sacks, the president's AI policy adviser, defended the deals on X, saying they will boost U.S. AI leadership and that any security concerns can still be addressed. "Modern AI supercomputers are 8 feet tall and weigh two tons; these are not like diamonds smuggled in a briefcase," he said. "To verify that chips are where they’re supposed to be, an auditor can just visit the data center and count server racks."