Last week, news reports indicated the Commerce Department might restrict exports of artificial intelligence-focused semiconductor chips to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and other countries. This followed a leak earlier this year that national security experts in the administration are quietly conducting a broader review of licenses proposed by Microsoft for consummation of its deal with G42, the UAE data center behemoth.
These potential restrictions reflect a deep ambivalence within the Biden administration on export of AI technology and the $1.5 billion G42 deal specifically. How the administration resolves this dispute will have an impact U.S. counter-China strategy, the U.S. posture in the Middle East, and American AI competitiveness. We think a forward-leaning approach toward foreign partnerships would best advance US AI dominance.
The AI foreign policy …