Microsoft received U.S. approval to ship 60,000 Nvidia GB300 chips to the UAE under Trump’s administration

Microsoft just got permission from the U.S. Commerce Department to ship over 60,000 Nvidia AI chips to the United Arab Emirates.

This is the first export license of its kind approved under President Donald Trump’s administration, and it clears the way for Microsoft to move forward with its AI expansion plans in the Gulf.

The approval came through back in September, but the company announced it Monday, saying the license was based on “updated and stringent technology safeguards.”

These aren’t some random chips either. The license covers the shipment of hardware equivalent to 60,400 A100 GPUs, but with a twist, the hardware is much newer.

The chips are Nvidia’s advanced GB300 models, part of its Grace/Blackwell lineup, which have become some of the most in-demand components in the global race to build large AI infrastructure.

According to Microsoft, these GPUs will be used to deliver AI capabilities from OpenAI, Anthropic, and open-source developers, alongside Microsoft’s own services.

“While the chips are powerful and the numbers are large, more important is their positive impact across the UAE,” the company said in its blog post. That’s the company’s official way of saying they’re betting big on the UAE becoming a major AI hub, and fast.

Microsoft expands spending in UAE while U.S. deal-making fuels market moves

Microsoft also announced a massive ramp-up of spending in the region. The company said it plans to increase its total investment in the UAE to $15.2 billion by 2030.

This includes a $1.5 billion equity stake in AI firm G42, a company tied closely to Abu Dhabi’s tech push. It also includes $5.5 billion in capital expenses for expanding Microsoft’s cloud and AI infrastructure in the Middle East.

Speaking at the ADIPEC conference in Abu Dhabi, Microsoft President Brad Smith said, “We’re very grateful to the Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, and the work that he has championed to enable export licenses to be made available to us.”

Smith added that the company’s ability to get this deal through came from building relationships across party lines, including Republican Marco Rubio and Democratic lawmakers. “It takes two parties to govern, and we keep that in mind,” he said.

Oxford Economics analyst Azad Zangana called the chips “crucial” for the UAE’s goal to become a global leader in AI. “Access to the world’s leading AI chips provides the hardware that will give developers the leading edge that is needed in an incredibly competitive global landscape,” he wrote in a note on Monday.

AI deals drive up tech stocks as chipmakers rally again

The announcement pushed Nvidia shares up 3%. Microsoft rose slightly. But the bigger wave hit the entire AI and chip sector.

On the same day, data center firm Iren said it had signed a $9.7 billion multiyear deal with Microsoft to supply Nvidia GB300 chips.

That news sent Iren’s stock up 12%, while Micron Technology rose 4%, Nvidia added 2%, and the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) climbed almost 1%.

The wider market saw a smaller lift. The Nasdaq rose 0.4%, while the S&P 500 inched up 0.1%. The Dow Jones dropped 243 points, or 0.5%, as weak breadth across other sectors dragged it down.

More than 400 S&P 500 companies finished in the red Monday, even with AI trades pushing tech higher.

That includes Amazon, which jumped 4% after its $38 billion deal with OpenAI, a partnership expected to use hundreds of thousands of Nvidia GPUs.

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