Democrats urge Trump to reconsider AI chip deals with Saudi Arabia, UAE over security concerns

A group of key Senate Democrats has called on the Trump administration to revisit recent agreements allowing Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to purchase advanced artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors, warning that expanded sales risk exposing sensitive technology to China and Russia and could limit supplies for American companies.

The agreements, announced by companies including Nvidia Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. during President Donald Trump’s visit to the Middle East last week, mark a significant shift from Biden-era restrictions that capped the Gulf nations’ access to advanced AI chips, Caliber.Az reports, citing American media.

The Democrat senators, led by Elizabeth Warren and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, argue that the deals jeopardise U.S. national security and economic competitiveness.

“Taken together, these announcements amount to a breathtaking rollback of export control restrictions that have helped maintain the US technological edge to ensure the United States wins the AI race and prevent our adversaries from accessing our most sensitive technologies,” the senators wrote in a letter on May 19 to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Since 2023, the U.S. has restricted sales of advanced AI semiconductors to Saudi Arabia and the UAE as part of broader efforts to prevent China from acquiring banned American technology through intermediaries. However, Trump administration officials have been negotiating with Gulf governments to ease some restrictions, recognising their ambitions to become regional AI hubs.

The Senate Democrats called for strict guardrails in any AI chip deals with Saudi Arabia and the UAE to prevent sensitive technology from leaking to China and Russia. They noted the Gulf nations’ previous commercial ties to Chinese companies, including Huawei Technologies Co., which has long been a national security concern for U.S. policymakers.

The companies’ announcements coincided with the Trump administration’s move to revoke the so-called AI diffusion rule introduced under President Joe Biden. This rule established a tiered system for AI chip access, which faced criticism from U.S. allies and tech companies like Nvidia for restricting chip sales to certain countries. The Trump administration is reportedly crafting a new approach focused on negotiating individual agreements with nations.

The Democratic lawmakers emphasised the importance of the diffusion rule, which aimed to keep AI technology out of the hands of adversaries capable of using it for bioweapons, cyberattacks, and surveillance. “Trump is now recklessly undermining these controls,” the letter states.

Concerns from Senate Democrats reflect worries expressed by some China hawks within the Trump administration about the adequacy of protections in the Gulf deals. Bloomberg previously reported that senior officials questioned the wisdom of sending large quantities of chips abroad amid efforts to maintain American dominance in AI.

The senators also warned that without proper safeguards, companies might be incentivised to move data infrastructure offshore, potentially undermining U.S.-based projects. They added that large-scale chip sales to the Gulf could deprive American companies of crucial semiconductors needed for their own AI development.

“At a time when many US companies need to wait years to acquire cutting-edge AI hardware, we find it deeply troubling that the Trump Administration is prioritizing making our latest technology available to Saudi Arabia and the UAE,” the lawmakers wrote.

Alongside Warren and Schumer, the letter was signed by Senators Jack Reed, Mark Warner, Elissa Slotkin, Chris Coons, Chris Van Hollen, and Kirsten Gillibrand.

By Khagan Isayev