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Investing.com-- A multibillion-dollar deal to supply Nvidia’s artificial intelligence chips to the United Arab Emirates remains on hold nearly five months since its announcement, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
The setback has frustrated NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang and some White House officials, the WSJ report said, citing people familiar with the matter.
The deal was set to become the face of a new U.S. tech strategy focused on boosting exports, but has so far failed to materialize.
The UAE had in May pledged to invest in the U.S. in exchange for up to several hundred thousand Nvidia AI chips per year. But no investment has been made so far.
The fate of the deal is in the hands of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the WSJ report said. The commerce department’s approval is crucial for allowing the UAE to invest in the U.S., while Lunick also has to sign off on chip sales to the gulf.
The commerce secretary has pressed the UAE to finalize their U.S. investments before any chip shipments are authorized, which in turn has delayed the deal, the WSJ report said.
Concerns over national security risks, given the UAE’s proximity to China, have also hampered the deal.
Nvidia executives have privately complained about Lutnick’s tactics, the WSJ report said, as have some members of the Donald Trump administration.
Nvidia’s foreign sales came under increased scrutiny this year, as the Trump administration sought to tighten its hold on the dispersal of what it sees as key AI technology. The company is also facing scrutiny in major market China, which has instructed local companies to largely avoid foreign-made AI chips.