The United States plans to approve the sale of advanced chips to Saudi Arabia, with Nvidia and AMD expected to supply the Middle East.

The United States plans to approve the sale of advanced AI chips to Saudi artificial intelligence company Humain, as part of a broader AI agreement between Washington and Riyadh, marking a major breakthrough for this state-owned enterprise as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meets with U.S. President Trump.

According to media reports, Trump said to reporters during a meeting with the Saudi Crown Prince in the Oval Office on Tuesday, "We're moving forward on this," and that the deal will involve "a certain number of chips." According to sources, the agreement could be finalized as early as this week, and the U.S. government is positive about the Saudi AI chip export application amount being negotiated.

Sources say the number of chips expected to be approved will reach tens of thousands.

This authorization will open up supply channels to the Middle Eastern market for the world's largest semiconductor companies, including Nvidia and AMD. Last month, Humain CEO Tareq Amin stated the company plans to deploy up to 400,000 AI chips by 2030.

Loosening Controls Over Chip Exports to Saudi Arabia

Since 2023, Saudi Arabia has needed permission from Washington to import advanced AI chips. Trump has retained these controls, but is also driving major Middle Eastern AI deals involving large-scale chip sales.

According to sources cited by media, the U.S.-Saudi agreement is expected to see the U.S. government approving the export applications for a negotiated number of Saudi AI chips, with the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security overseeing semiconductor export controls.

Last month, Amin stated that Humain is awaiting chip export licenses involving Nvidia, AMD, Qualcomm, and California chip startup Groq.

Humain’s Strategic Positioning

Humain, founded by Saudi Arabia’s $1 trillion Public Investment Fund with the Crown Prince as chairman, has become the core vehicle for the Kingdom to seize the AI investment boom. The company officially launched during Trump’s visit six months ago.

In October this year, Saudi national oil giant Aramco announced it had signed a non-binding term sheet to take a significant minority stake in Humain. The country’s wealth fund has yet to disclose the exact amount allocated to Humain.

During the White House meeting, the Saudi Crown Prince emphasized to Trump the importance of artificial intelligence to his country’s development. "AI is crucial for maintaining the growth of the Saudi economy," he told reporters. The Kingdom has "huge demand for unique computing power." The Crown Prince claimed, "We will spend about $50 billion in the short term" on semiconductor procurement.

Humain has released Arabic-language chatbots, operating systems, and other AI tools. But its main selling point to Silicon Valley is Saudi Arabia’s cheap data center energy supply. Humain promises to build 6.6 gigawatts of computing capacity by 2034, enough to power roughly 4.95 million American households at any time, rivaling OpenAI’s large "Stargate" project in the U.S. in scale.

Risk DisclaimerThe market carries risks, and investment requires caution. This article does not constitute personal investment advice and does not take into account the individual investment objectives, financial situation, or needs of specific users. Readers should consider whether any opinions, views, or conclusions in this article suit their particular circumstances. Investment decisions made accordingly are at one's own responsibility.