UAE Wins Advanced Export Status; Core42 Says AI Security Framework Tightens, Not Loosens

Core42’s chief executive Talal Al Kaissi moved quickly to correct what he called a fundamental misreading of the UAE’s new export classification, insisting the upgrade strengthens rather than loosens the security architecture built around the country’s AI infrastructure.

The US announced on July 10 that the UAE would receive A5 status, a designation that facilitates easier transfer of US military equipment, satellites, spacecraft, artificial intelligence and energy technology. Al Kaissi, who leads the unit of UAE AI company G42, pushed back directly on social media against suggestions that the reclassification would soften compliance standards. “I’ve seen pockets of commentary from folks saying that as a result of this well-earned recognition by the US government of the ‘gold standard’ (as the US Department of State put it), implementation of our regulated technology environment will somehow relax our compliance and security posture,” he wrote. “This makes no sense and is inaccurate.”

Additional reference context is available at https://www.thenationalnews.com/future/technology/2026/07/19/us-decision-to-raise-uae-export-status-will-strengthen-ai-security-core42-says/.

The regulated technology environment at the center of this debate was built through an intergovernmental assurance agreement between the US and UAE, with substantial input from Microsoft, which holds a minority investment in G42. Al Kaissi, speaking recently at the Aspen Security Forum, described the framework as incorporating both physical safeguards against diversion and logical security components controlling access to the systems themselves. “I really think it’s the gold standard,” he said. The arrangement was designed specifically to ensure that advanced AI semiconductors and technologies remain secure from unauthorized use or transfer.

What changed on July 10 was Washington’s formal recognition of that framework, not the framework itself.

The classification decision followed months of intensive negotiations in which UAE officials sought approval to purchase some of the world’s most advanced Nvidia semiconductors, chips the US had previously restricted to maintain its technological edge and prevent access by potentially adversarial nations. By May, those shipments had already begun arriving. Yousef Al Otaiba, UAE Minister of State and ambassador to the US, confirmed the deliveries at a Washington technology conference. “The UAE is all-in on American tech. We are not hedging, we are not diversifying, we’re doubling down on it,” he said.

Al Otaiba also characterized the A5 designation as confirmation of “decades of deep and dependable UAE-US co-operation in technology, security, trade and investment,” a framing that positions the classification as an operational milestone rather than a diplomatic gesture.

The semiconductor acquisitions sit within a much longer infrastructure build. In 2017, the UAE became one of the first nations globally to establish a dedicated ministerial position for AI, appointing Omar Al Olama, who now serves as Minister of State for AI, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications. Two years later, the country announced the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence, a research institution focused on advancing the field. During President Donald Trump’s visit to the UAE in 2025, officials announced plans for a 5GW UAE-US AI Campus, a project that signals the scale of physical infrastructure investment still ahead.

For Core42 and the broader UAE AI sector, the A5 designation has a direct operational consequence: access to the semiconductor and technology transfers needed to build competitive AI infrastructure, within a security framework jointly designed and monitored by both nations. The more pressing question now is whether that framework, however well-designed on paper, can scale to match the ambitions attached to a 5GW campus and the volumes of advanced chips already in transit.