The U.S. Department of Commerce announced a revision to export controls for the United Arab Emirates, easing restrictions on the transfer of military goods and specified commercial satellites and spacecraft, according to a Federal Register notice.
Under the updated regulation, the UAE government and companies that receive formal approval will be permitted to obtain advanced computing items without the need for export licenses. The Federal Register entry specifically listed a set of UAE and U.S. companies that will benefit from the change: UAE firms G42 and Core42, and U.S. companies operating in the country including Amazon, Apple, and xAI. These entities will no longer require licenses to receive certain AI chips and servers.
The Commerce Department framed the policy adjustment within the context of longstanding cooperation between the United States and the UAE. The posting said the two countries have worked together for decades to counter Iran and its proxies, naming Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis. The notice also stated, "More recently, the UAE played a key role advancing U.S. interests during Operation Epic Fury," a reference in the posting to the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran that began in February.
The department's notice highlighted the economic ties between the two countries, noting the UAE as the largest U.S. trading partner in the Middle East and stating that foreign direct investment from the UAE in the United States is valued at more than $1 trillion.
Operationally, the Commerce Department moved the UAE into a country grouping that allows greater license exceptions for items the department controls as military or dual-use. Within that grouping, other members include NATO countries and additional U.S. allies; the UAE will be the only country in the group that is not a participant in multilateral export control regimes, according to the notice.
The Federal Register posting sets out the new export-control posture without providing additional implementation details beyond the entities named and the description of the country grouping change.