Trump is making a strategic move in AI, first by loosening regulations; he has lifted export restrictions on AI Chips, and the Republican Party is pushing to pass a bill within 10 years to ban restrictions on AI, clearing obstacles for AI development. Secondly, the Middle East is investing 2.2 trillion dollars to build Datacenters and purchase the most advanced AI Chips from the USA, allowing USA's AI models and technology to expand globally while attracting more capital inflow into the USA's technology ecosystem.
Signing L deals until hands are sore, accepting luxurious airplane gifts... Trump's visit to the Middle East is full of highlights, but the most exciting part is his strategic move in 'AI chess'.
According to previous reports from CCTV, USA President Trump visited Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE from the 13th to the 16th local time.
On Friday, media analysts noted that the reason USA is referred to as a 'superpower' boils down to two points—military strength and financial influence, and now, with the rapid development of AI, Trump aims to build an AI hegemony ecosystem.
This intention is reflected during his trip to the Middle East, first by loosening regulations; Trump has lifted the Biden administration's export restrictions on AI Chips, and the Republican Party is promoting a bill to ban restrictions on AI within 10 years, clearing obstacles for AI development.
Secondly, the Middle East is investing 2.2 trillion dollars to build large-scale Datacenters and purchase USA AI Chips, tying the Middle East's AI development closely to American companies.
All of the above have opened up a huge new market for AI companies in the USA.$NVIDIA (NVDA.US)$The stock price rose by 6% on Tuesday, which reflects this.
Regulatory loosening: removing the 'red light' for AI development.
According to media reports cited by the Global Times, this week, the USA's Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced plans to revoke the "AI Diffusion Rules" established during the Biden administration, which previously restricted the export of the most advanced AI Chips to Other countries, including the Middle East. This approach perfectly aligns with the interests of Saudi Arabia and the UAE—countries eager to rapidly establish AI infrastructure using their abundant funds, without being constrained by traditional Western regulatory frameworks.
The Trump administration also demonstrated an attitude of "the government should step back, and American businesses should thrive." Last Saturday, Trump fired the director of the U.S. Copyright Office, Shira Perlmutter, shortly after the department released a report questioning the practice of technology companies using copyrighted materials to train AI systems.
New York Congressman Joe Morelle criticized in a statement: "This is no coincidence; he took action less than a day after she refused to endorse Musk's efforts to train AI models using copyrighted works."
At the same time, the House Energy and Commerce Committee included a provision prohibiting states from regulating AI for the next 10 years as part of a massive tax and spending bill. Although this provision is unlikely to appear in its current form in the final version, it demonstrates Washington's increasing enthusiasm for deregulation.
If the bill is passed in its current form, it will mark a significant victory for major technology companies in the USA, which believe that state-level regulation threatens innovation. The bill will impose a 10-year freeze on "any laws or regulations regulating AI models, AI systems, or automated decision-making systems."
For something like $Meta Platforms (META.US)$ 、$Microsoft (MSFT.US)$OpenAI and Alphabet $Alphabet-A (GOOGL.US)$ For them, this clause provides a way to circumvent pending or existing state laws, which are often more stringent than those of the federal government.
The new mission of oil dollars: from an Energy kingdom to an AI empire.
On one hand, removing regulatory barriers; on the other hand, attracting investments to expand the USA's AI market by exporting AI to the Middle East.
According to previous articles, during Trump's four-day Middle East trip, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE pledged to invest trillions of dollars in exchange for the supply of cutting-edge AI Chips, accelerating their development in the AI field.
Notably, the Saudi sovereign wealth Fund has already invested over 100 billion dollars in American AI startups and data center construction projects. The UAE has also followed suit, injecting tens of billions of dollars into AI Chip manufacturing and large model development through its technology investment department, Mubadala.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE are no longer satisfied with merely being the world's gas station; these Gulf countries are rapidly transforming into key investors in Global AI infrastructure construction. Analysts indicate that Saudi Arabia and the UAE have brought not only capital but also Energy, as AI Datacenters require a large amount of Electrical Utilities, which is an advantage of these oil-rich nations.
This approach allows American AI models and technologies to rapidly expand Globally while attracting more international capital Inflow into the American technology ecosystem. Fast Company noted that Trump reached an agreement during talks in Riyadh with Mohammed bin Salman to allow Saudi Arabia to directly use America’s most advanced AI models, in return for increased Saudi investment in American chip and data center companies.
In any case, one thing is clear: with the combination of Middle Eastern capital and American technology, along with a significant loosening of the policy environment, the next chapter of AI development will have less regulation, more capital, and faster innovation.
Editor/Rocky
