‘Wins for America’: Nvidia chief hails Gulf deals

• Jensen Huang praises Saudi and UAE
• Chinese sales hit by export controls
• Global demand remains strong

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang used a first-quarter earnings call on Wednesday to highlight artificial intelligence infrastructure deals in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, describing them as major US victories at a time when export controls have dented the company’s Chinese sales.

Ahead of Nvidia’s Q1 call, the Financial Times reported that Trump had ordered US chip design software companies to halt sales to Chinese groups. 

“I was honoured to join [President Trump] in announcing a 500 megawatt AI infrastructure project in Saudi Arabia and a 5 gigawatt AI campus in the UAE,” Huang said on the call. 

“President Trump wants US tech to lead. The deals he announced are wins for America, creating jobs, advancing infrastructure, generating tax revenue and reducing the US trade deficit,” he said. 

Huang’s remarks on the Gulf came as Nvidia reported a $4.5 billion charge on unsellable China-bound chips and said it had missed $2.5 billion in revenue in the first quarter due to tightened US controls.

A further decline in China sales is expected this quarter.

Nvidia nonetheless raised its outlook, projecting $45 billion in Q2 revenue despite an estimated $8 billion hit from export controls. Shares surged in after-hours trading.

“Global demand for Nvidia’s AI infrastructure is incredibly strong,” Huang said. 

Much of that demand is coming from governments racing to build national AI infrastructure independent of foreign providers, a trend the company calls “sovereign AI”. 

“Sovereign AI is a new growth engine for Nvidia,” said Huang. “I don’t know any country who thinks intelligence is optional. We need factories to produce this intelligence.” 

Nvidia CFO Colette Kress said that nearly 100 AI “factories” are now under development globally, double the figure from a year ago, with the average number of chips per site also doubling.

AI factories are data centres equipped with thousands of high-end chips – graphics processing units (GPUs) – considered as essential infrastructure for countries developing national capabilities.

“These AI factory buildouts are driving significant revenue,” she said, citing the “strategically vital sovereign clouds” recently announced in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Taiwan.

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Gulf states are pouring billions into AI infrastructure as they seek to diversify their economies away from oil. 

Earlier this month US officials cleared the sale of 18,000 of Nvidia’s high-end Grace Blackwell chips to Humain, a newly formed Saudi AI company owned by the Public Investment Fund and chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. 

The chips, priced at about $40,000 each, will power data centres with a planned capacity of 500 megawatts.

Humain aims to build 1.9 gigawatts of capacity by 2030, using “several hundred thousand” Nvidia processors over the next five years.

AI infrastructure is measured by power usage due to its energy-intensive nature.

While Saudi Arabia’s AI buildout may lead to short term oversupply, spare capacity could be exported to other markets.

The kingdom plans to treat international company data centres as “digital embassies,” offering secure infrastructure and cheap energy while allowing companies to retain control of their data.

“Countries around the world are recognising AI as essential infrastructure, just like electricity and the internet, and Nvidia stands at the centre of this profound transformation,” Huang said.