UAE’s Sheikh Tahnoon begins U.S. visit aimed at securing tech ties
A central part of Sheikh Tahnoon’s agenda is likely to be obtaining greater access to Nvidia’s advanced semiconductor chips
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed/X
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed accompanied UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed to meet former President Joe Biden when he was in office last year
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, the UAE’s National Security Adviser and one of the country’s most prominent business leaders, started a visit to the U.S. on Monday with both political and economic dimensions.
Amid concern about tightening restrictions on access to advanced U.S. technology, Sheikh Tahnoon is setting up meetings with a series of top Trump administration officials at the White House, according to a statement from the Abu Dhabi Media Office.
“The meetings will focus on advancing economic and technology ties between the two countries,” the statement said.
“Discussions will also cover ongoing regional challenges and strengthening the decades-long U.S.-UAE strategic partnership.”
The meetings are likely to include Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, Bloomberg reported. Whether he will meet with President Donald Trump is unclear.
Sheikh Tahnoon, the brother of UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, serves as Chairman of Abu Dhabi’s biggest investors, including the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, ADQ and International Holding Co. He also heads the boards of G42, the government-backed artificial intelligence company, and tech investment fund MGX.
A central part of Sheikh Tahnoon’s agenda in Washington will be to press for greater access to Nvidia’s advanced semiconductor chips that are central to development of AI technology, the news agency reported.
MGX is one of the major backers – along with SoftBank, OpenAI, and Oracle – of a $100 billion AI infrastructure venture that Trump unveiled during his first week in office.