UAE’s Sheikh Tahnoon begins U.S. visit aimed at securing tech ties

Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, the UAE’s National Security Adviser and one of the country’s most prominent business leaders, starts 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.

UAE’s Sheikh Tahnoon talks technology in Washington

Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed visited the White House on Tuesday where the UAE National Security Adviser and chairman of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and ADQ met with his U.S. counterpart Jake Sullivan.

The meeting comes as Abu Dhabi has aligned itself with the world’s biggest economy on matters of technology development — inking a $1.5 billion investment from Microsoft for local artificial intelligence champion G42 earlier this year with backing from the Biden administration. 

Sheikh Tahnoon’s visit to Washington, along with a delegation that includes other Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund executives, is focused on enhancing the strategic relations between the two countries with Sheikh Tahnoon speaking to Sullivan on “shared insights on regional and global issues of mutual concern,” the Emirati leader posted on X this morning.

Omar Al Olama, UAE Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, said the UAE is seeking “a marriage” with the U.S. over technology development, speaking in an interview with the Financial Times published on Tuesday.

On Monday, Sheikh Tahnoon met with Deputy Secretary of State Kurt M. Campbell at the State Department in Foggy Bottom. The pair discussed artificial intelligence and driving economic growth both bilaterally and in Africa and India, according to a readout from the State Department.