UAE spymaster's trip to US shows AI is in, and Israel's war on Gaza is out
The UAE delivered a clear message during National Security Advisor Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed’s visit to the White House on Tuesday: artificial intelligence is in, and Israel’s war on Gaza is out - on the UAE's list of top priorities with the Trump administration.
Tahnoon, who sports aviator sunglasses because of an eye condition, wears many hats; from spy chief to chess grand master and tech investor. In his meeting with US President Donald Trump, the latter was on full display.
Trump hosted Tahnoon at a White House dinner on Tuesday, with Tahnoon reaffirming the UAE’s interest in investing in sectors like AI, technology, infrastructure, and healthcare, Wam, the UAE’s official news agency, said.
In a meeting with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Tahnoon discussed how to deepen Emirati investment in AI, Wam added.
Tahnoon, who has been dubbed the “spy sheikh”, has a laser-like focus on AI. During a previous visit to the US, Tahnoon actually dispatched an Emirati official to the office of a George Washington University professor, Jeffrey Ding, to obtain a hard-to-find copy of his book detailing how AI will drive global economic growth in the future.
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As the chairman of two Abu Dhabi wealth funds with an estimated net worth of $1.4 trillion, Tahnoon has more money than potentially any other investor in the world to channel into AI.
He controls artificial intelligence group G42, which obtained a $1.5bn investment from Microsoft in AI data centres in the UAE.
UAE announces deal for $25bn
The Biden administration placed restrictions on the export of advanced AI chips to countries like the UAE. Tahnoon’s visit to Washington was focused on swaying the Trump administration to reassess those restrictions by reaffirming to the US that the UAE is an asset in its battle for AI supremacy, not a leaky ship that China can tap.
It was not too long ago that the UAE was playing Russia and China off the US, to the point that US officials warned China was constructing a military port in the Emirates. That suspicion fed into sensitive sectors like technology.
But AI has been transformational to the US-UAE relationship, with Tahnoon betting on American technology over that of China's and moving the wealthy Gulf state closer to the US’s sphere of influence.
The UAE already made inroads with Trump when MGX, a little-known Abu Dhabi investment firm overseen by Tahnoon, pledged to invest $7bn in an AI infrastructure plan unveiled by Trump.
Following Tahnoon’s visit, ADQ, an Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund run by Tahnoon, announced it was partnering with US private equity firm Energy Capital Partners to invest more than $25bn in energy projects to power data centres in the US.
Tahnoon’s visit coincided with that of Sultan al-Jaber, the head of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, to the US.
US Vice President JD Vance praised the UAE and Jaber at a tech summit on Tuesday, as he repeated his jab at European countries he has been critical of.
“One of the things they consistently hammer upon - it’s something that unfortunately too few of our European allies tend to get - is that if you want to lead in artificial intelligence, you’ve got to be leading in energy production,” Vance said, adding he was “thrilled” the UAE was attending the tech summit.
UAE breaks further with Gulf states on Gaza
The unprecedented amount of capital the UAE is spending on American AI and technology gives them huge sway over the Trump administration, US and Arab officials have told MEE.
What was absent from the UAE officials' visit were public discussions or statements about Israel’s war on Gaza, which re-erupted on Tuesday when Israel began bombing the enclave.
The UAE's priorities underscore how far it has drifted away from its wealthy Gulf neighbours.
Whereas Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has publicly accused Israel of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip, the UAE has continued to engage with Israel.
Behind the scenes, the UAE has broken with fellow Arab states lobbying the Trump administration against a plan drafted by Egypt and endorsed by the Arab League for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, MEE revealed.
The UAE’s foreign minister hosted his Israeli counterpart in the UAE in January before a brief ceasefire was reached in Gaza. The two countries normalised ties in 2020 under Trump’s Abraham Accords.
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