Apple gains royalty-free access to AI chips in the Emirates

The US Department of Commerce has significantly upgraded the United Arab Emirates' export status – and Apple is among the US companies that will directly benefit. Advanced AI chips and servers will now be allowed to enter the country without requiring individual export licenses. For a hardware company that isn't typically associated with the major cloud computing players, this is a remarkable achievement.

The U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) reclassified the United Arab Emirates' export rights on Friday, significantly easing access to advanced computing goods. Specifically, the Emirati government and select companies can now import AI chips, servers, and related technology into the country without licenses, instead of having to obtain a separate permit for each shipment. Apple is among the U.S. corporations explicitly named as eligible recipients in the government document. This comes at a time when Apple is already restructuring its own AI server infrastructure – navigating the tension between internal expansion, outsourced data centers, and the growing computing demands of Apple Intelligence.

What exactly does the new rule change?

The core of the reorganization is an upgrade in export regulations: BIS is removing the Emirates from country groups D:3 and D:4 and assigning them to the more favorable group A:5. This means the License Exception Strategic Trade Authorization (STA) applies to the country – an exemption that allows exports, re-exports, and onward transfers within the country without a separate license (via Reuters).

The regulations affect not only AI chips and servers, including their associated software and technology, but also certain military equipment, commercial satellites, and dual-use goods. For the companies mentioned, this means that as long as they are the authorized recipients and end users, the previously required application for each shipment is no longer necessary. The final rule has been filed for public review; formal publication in the U.S. Federal Register is scheduled for July 14.

Eight corporations – and one special case among them

In addition to the Emirati companies G42 and Core42, the report names several US corporations that will no longer require individual licenses for their deliveries. Specifically, these include Amazon, Apple, and xAI; the general consensus is that there are eight US companies, supplemented by Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Oracle.

Apple's place in this list is striking. The other names represent hyperscalers and AI first-party providers that operate large public data centers worldwide and sell cloud computing power to third parties. Apple is the outlier: a consumer hardware company that has so far handled its AI tasks via its own isolated infrastructure and does not maintain an open cloud division like AWS or Google Cloud. The fact that Apple appears in a document about AI companies and their foreign subsidiaries is therefore more than just a footnote.

Why the US is upgrading the Emirates

The easing of restrictions is not an isolated step, but rather builds upon the US-Emirati AI framework agreement of May 2025. Washington justifies the move by citing the Emirates' role as a significant defense partner and their long-standing cooperation against Iran and its allies. At the same time, the agency points to the close economic ties: The Emirates are considered the largest US trading partner in the Middle East, and their direct investments in the US are estimated at over one trillion dollars.

Behind this lies a strategic calculation that extends beyond individual companies. The US wants the emerging AI region to build its infrastructure on US technology – and not resort to Chinese alternatives. License-free access for trusted recipients is the key to achieving this.

What this access could mean for Apple's AI plans

Whether and how Apple will actually use this new freedom remains to be seen. The most obvious solution would be to build or expand data center infrastructure in the region – an area in which Apple has recently invested significantly, from its own server hardware and the manufacturing of AI servers in the US to the growing computing load surrounding Apple Intelligence.

At the same time, this picture doesn't quite fit with Apple's previous approach. Unlike the other seven companies, Apple doesn't operate public cloud regions that would need to be geographically distributed and built. A more realistic interpretation is therefore that its place on the list initially secures options, not an announcement of a concrete project: Apple is keeping its options open should local computing capacity in the region become more viable in the future. There has been no firm announcement on this point – and until then, the most important finding remains that Apple is being considered in a framework where, so far, the major AI infrastructure players have primarily set the tone. (Image: Shutterstock / Gorodenkoff)