Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), a leading advocate for American leadership in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), is slamming President Trump’s support for deals to sell advanced U.S. chip technology to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Schumer said Trump would “greenlight the sale of the most sensitive U.S. chip technology in exchange for vague promises of more foreign investment.”
“This deal could very well be dangerous because we have no clarity on how the Saudis and Emiratis will prevent the Chinese Communist Party, the Chinese government, the Chinese manufacturing establishment from getting their hands on these chips,” Schumer warned in a speech on the Senate floor Thursday.
“Inevitably, when foreign countries end up with American-made chips, the CCP, the Chinese Communist Party, sooner or later gets ahold of these American chips and their secrets in them,” he said. “That’s why we’ve had such strong restrictions against exporting these chips to other counties.”
He noted that Rep. John Moolenaar (Mich.), the Republican chair of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, warned on social media the new U.S. chip deals with Persian Gulf nations “present a vulnerability for the CCP to exploit.”
Several U.S. tech firms announced new deals with Saudi Arabia and the UAE during Trump’s trip to the Middle East.
Nvidia plans to sell thousands of advanced chips to Saudi Arabia, with a shipment of 18,000 Blackwell chips going to an AI company backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, according to Reuters.
Advanced Micro Devices and Qualcomm have also announced deals with the Saudi-backed company Humain.
Schumer warned Trump’s diplomatic outreach to Persian Gulf nations on sensitive technology will result in more high-tech manufacturing in those countries instead of the United States.
“What’s this about bringing jobs and high-end technology back to the country?” Schumer asked. “All of a sudden it’s OK to give it to other countries? Especially other countries whose security might be not as tight as ours and allow the Chinese government to get ahold of these chips?”
