The United States and United Arab Emirates (UAE) signed a memorandum of understanding Sunday to expand cooperation on AI and energy as the Trump administration increasingly embraces Abu Dhabi as a partner in the AI race.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE’s minister of industry and advanced technology, inked the agreement in the Emirati capital amid Burgum’s visit for the ADIPEC energy conference.
The agreement seeks to boost “advanced industrial capabilities” and the adoption of “future-ready smart manufacturing technologies,” according to a press release from UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
“The collaboration aims to deliver a major leap in industrial processes, production planning, and logistics — strengthening long-term competitiveness and resilience by tapping into the potential of artificial intelligence, improving energy efficiency, managing smart grids, enabling predictive maintenance, and enhancing energy storage systems,” the release noted.
Energy has become closely intertwined in the AI conversation, given the technology’s vast power demands. As major tech firms race to expand their AI infrastructure, they are also grappling with existing restraints on the grid.
“Today, we partnered with UAE to utilize AI to modernize energy infrastructure, optimize systems & expand energy production to meet rising demand,” Burgum wrote in a post on X. “@POTUS knows that energy diplomacy & innovation are KEY to safeguarding our economic & national security interests!”
The UAE, which has its eyes on becoming an AI hub, secured a key win earlier this year, when the Trump administration approved the sale of advanced AI chips to the Gulf nation.
Microsoft, which announced a $15.2 billion investment in the UAE on Monday, noted that it secured export licenses from the administration last month to ship the equivalent of 60,400 of Nvidia’s A100 chips, including some of the company’s more advanced Grace Blackwell chips.
