Trump blocks Nvidia AI chips export as Microsoft expands UAE

President Donald Trump said this week that the United States would not allow the most advanced Nvidia artificial intelligence chips to be sold outside the country, even as Microsoft announced a multibillion-dollar expansion in the United Arab Emirates that includes U.S. export-approved shipments of Nvidia processors. Trump made the comments in a recent interview and to reporters aboard Air Force One, and Microsoft disclosed the investment at an AI summit in Abu Dhabi on Monday.

"The most advanced, we will not let anybody have them other than the United States," Trump said, adding separately that he would not permit the top-tier Blackwell chips to be sold to Chinese firms while leaving open the possibility of less powerful variants. His remarks signal a potential tightening of export controls on high-end AI semiconductors and appear at odds with previous U.S. policy guidance that sought to broaden exports to allied countries.

Microsoft said the Commerce Department granted licenses in September that allow the company to ship tens of thousands of Nvidia GPUs to the UAE, including advanced GB300 Grace Blackwell chips. Company officials said the licenses were issued under strict...