Overview

• Bloomberg reports the Commerce Department granted Nvidia an export license tied to a U.S.–UAE AI partnership that had contemplated shipments of up to 500,000 advanced processors a year through 2027.
• Initial approvals direct the GPUs to American companies operating data centers in the UAE rather than to Abu Dhabi-based G42, according to Bloomberg.
• G42 told Semafor it was excluded from the first tranche but says its facilities meet or exceed license safeguards with measures designed to prevent diversion to China.
• Financial Times reporting says Chinese customs deployed enforcement teams at major ports to scrutinize Nvidia H20 and RTX 6000D shipments, with checks expanding to other advanced semiconductors after regulators told firms to halt Nvidia orders and reports emerged of large-scale smuggling.
• The U.S. Senate passed the GAIN AI provision in the NDAA to require chipmakers to prioritize domestic buyers, a measure Nvidia opposes, and the House must still decide whether to include it in the final bill.