UAE bypasses Nvidia chip restrictions to grow AI capabilities

Alamy via Reuters

• Core42 to use Nvidia chip
• Will enhance Gulf AI capabilities
• Safeguards data protection

The UAE has established a way to use Nvidia’s powerful AI chips to boost its own artificial intelligence capabilities, despite recent US export restrictions within the sector.

Core42, a subsidiary of Mubadala-backed G42, announced last week that it has developed a specialised system to deploy Nvidia’s H100 Tensor. This new set-up, which the company calls a “regulated technology environment,” allows the Gulf state to access US computing power within its own borders while retaining technological sovereignty – a critical objective for countries seeking to safeguard their data and control their AI systems.

A regulated technology environment is a secure space where it can handle sensitive technology under strict guidelines. Similar systems are often used globally by companies and governments, especially in areas such as defense and telecommunications, to ensure they meet regulatory requirements when dealing with advanced technology.

Other Gulf states might pursue similar goals, but Talal Al Kaissi, chief product and global partnerships officer at Core42, said the company’s regulated technology environment sets “a pretty high bar” and is “not going to be very easy to institute”.

“What we’ve built is something quite novel, which I think is going to become a gold standard in how you operate advanced technologies from the US, outside of the US,” Al Kaissi told AGBI.

“This is the first instance of us deploying Nvidia’s H100 here in the country. The reason it took us this long is because we’ve had the license for a while, but we wanted to make sure that we could be compliant with the regulatory requirements.”

The Nvidia H100 is a preferred processor for AI firms in the US, such as OpenAI, and is used to process vast amounts of data and accelerate machine-learning tasks on major apps, such as ChatGPT.

The US has banned sales of H100 chips in China and Russia over concerns they could be used for military purposes.

But last year the US expanded the restriction of exports to some Middle East countries, primarily to prevent onward access to these rivals.

The restrictions complicate efforts for Gulf nations to advance their AI capabilities.

Achieving AI sovereignty allows nations to develop critical infrastructure that aligns with their security and economic priorities.

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Core42, which specialises in sovereign cloud, AI infrastructure and digital services, said in a recent statement that global supply chain constraints, the high cost of advanced digital infrastructure, and export restrictions have limited access to AI power in the Gulf region. 

The company also said it plans to deploy Nvidia’s H200 chips.

Al Kaissi declined to comment on whether Core42 had placed orders for Nvidia’s next generation Blackwell chips, which Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang recently described as experiencing “insane” demand in an interview with CNBC.

Al Kaissi, who previously served as senior advisor for commercial affairs at the UAE embassy’s trade and commercial office in Washington DC, said the regulated technology environment combines robust security measures with compliance protocols, including know your customer checks, to prevent unauthorised access.

“Here in the UAE, it’s important for some of [our] customers that we ensure the infrastructure they require is in the country and is operated in a sovereign fashion,” he said.

“We own the infrastructure, we own the data centre … as well as the servers we’ve procured from either Nvidia or Dell. So, you have that within a controlled environment.”