NVIDIA to deploy AI across Middle East amid increasing US-China tech tensions

NVIDIA will deploy its artificial intelligence (AI) technology in data centers owned by Qatari telecoms group Ooredoo in five Middle Eastern countries, despite the Biden administration's move to halt the export of some of the Silicon Valley company’s most sophisticated AI microchips to the region amid increasing security concerns around China.

The agreement is NVIDIA's first large splash into the Middle Eastern market after it was reported in August 2023 that Washington planned to curb exports of the most technologically sophisticated AI microchips from NVIDIA, as well as from Advanced Micro Devices, beyond China to some unspecified Middle Eastern countries. Given that many countries in the Middle East have strong ties with both Washington and Beijing, US officials are concerned such sensitive technology could find its way into Chinese hands. As the global demand for AI has grown exponentially, NVIDIA has become the third most valuable company in the world after Microsoft and Apple.  

The NVIDIA-Ooredoo deal was signed on the sidelines of the TM Forum in Copenhagen, Denmark, on June 19, according to a statement from the Qatari company. 

"Our b2b clients, thanks to this agreement, will have access to services that probably their competitors [won't] for another 18 to 24 months," Ooredoo CEO Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo told Reuters.