During his visit to the White House on Tuesday, the United Arab Emirates' National Security Advisor, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, conveyed a clear message: Artificial intelligence (AI) is of increasing importance in the UAE's top agenda with the Trump administration, while Israel's war on Gaza is relatively lower in priority. Tahnoon's trip aimed to emphasize the UAE's focus on AI and seek closer cooperation with the United States in the technology sector.
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03-20, 2025Tahnoon holds multiple roles, from intelligence chief to chess grandmaster to tech investor. During his meeting with U.S. President Trump, he mainly presented himself as a tech investor. According to the UAE's official news agency WAM, Trump hosted a dinner for Tahnoon at the White House on Tuesday, where Tahnoon reiterated the UAE's investment intentions in areas such as artificial intelligence, technology, infrastructure, and healthcare. In a meeting with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Tahnoon also discussed how to deepen the UAE's investment in the field of artificial intelligence.
Tahnoon has an extremely high level of attention to artificial intelligence. During a previous visit to the United States, he sent a UAE official to the office of Jeffrey Ding, a professor at George Washington University, to request a copy of his book, which detailed how artificial intelligence will drive global economic growth. As the head of Abu Dhabi's two sovereign wealth funds, Tahnoon has approximately $1.4 trillion in net assets, making him one of the world's most potentially influential AI investors. He controls the AI group G42, which received a $1.5 billion investment from Microsoft to build an AI data center in the UAE.
The Biden administration has imposed restrictions on the export of advanced AI chips to countries such as the UAE. Tahnoon's visit to Washington aimed to persuade the Trump administration to reassess these restrictions. He reiterated to the United States that the UAE is an important asset in its quest for leadership in the field of artificial intelligence, rather than a loophole that China can exploit. Previously, the UAE had maneuvered between the United States, Russia, and China to the extent that U.S. officials warned that China might be building military ports in the UAE, and this concern has spread to sensitive areas such as technology.
However, artificial intelligence has changed U.S.-UAE relations. Tahnoon's bet on American technology, rather than Chinese technology, has brought the wealthy Gulf state closer to the American sphere of influence. Previously, the little-known Abu Dhabi investment company MGX pledged to invest $7 billion in an AI infrastructure plan announced by Trump, and the UAE has already made progress in this regard. Following Tahnoon's visit, ADQ, the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund he manages, announced a partnership with U.S. private equity firm Energy Capital Partners to invest more than $25 billion in U.S. energy projects to support the development of data centers.
Tahnoon's visit coincided with a visit to the United States by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company chief Sultan Al Jaber. U.S. Vice President JD Vance praised the UAE and Al Jaber at a tech summit on Tuesday and reiterated his criticism of European countries, which he has consistently criticized. "One point they have repeatedly emphasized—unfortunately, few of our European allies understand—is that if you want to lead in artificial intelligence, you must lead in energy production," Vance said, adding that he was "thrilled" that the UAE was participating in the tech summit. U.S. and Arab officials told Middle East Eye (MEE) that the unprecedented amount of money the UAE is investing in the U.S. artificial intelligence and technology sectors gives it enormous influence over the Trump administration.
Notably, there was no public discussion or statement regarding Israel's war on Gaza during the UAE officials' visit. At the same time, Israel resumed bombing the Gaza Strip on Tuesday. The UAE's priorities highlight its distance from its wealthy Gulf neighbors. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has publicly accused Israel of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip, while the UAE continues to engage with Israel. According to MEE, the UAE has privately broken with Arab states, lobbying the Trump administration against a Gaza Strip reconstruction plan drafted by Egypt and endorsed by the Arab League.
Prior to a brief ceasefire agreement in Gaza, the UAE's foreign minister hosted the Israeli foreign minister in the UAE in January. The two countries normalized relations in 2020 under Trump's Abraham Accords.
