Saudi Arabia and the UAE enter the competition for scarce Nvidia chips, alongside Elon Musk and prominent Chinese technology leaders.

  • Technology giants worldwide are in a frenzy to secure Nvidia chips.
  • Saudi Arabia and the UAE have emerged as the most recent significant purchasers of Nvidia technology, which plays a pivotal role in the ongoing AI competition.
  • This development further contributes to worries regarding a shortage of chips, as the demand for GPUs surpasses the available supply.

 

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have emerged as the most recent participants aiming to acquire Nvidia chips for fueling their aspirations in artificial intelligence. They are now part of a growing lineup of buyers, alongside Elon Musk and China, who are all seeking to harness this technology.

Both Gulf states have clearly indicated their determination to establish themselves as significant contenders in the field of AI. Their strategy involves procuring numerous graphic processing units (GPUs) from Nvidia, as these GPUs play a crucial role in driving the surge of generative AI that has taken the markets by storm throughout this year.

Saudi Arabia has acquired a minimum of 3,000 Nvidia H100 chips, each priced at $40,000. Meanwhile, the UAE has placed an order for a fresh batch of semiconductors, intending to energize its own extensive language model. These details have been revealed by the Financial Times.

In a global arena, both Middle Eastern nations are encountering competition from various corners, as they enter the race for Nvidia stocks, alongside prominent names like China and Elon Musk.

Just last week, the Financial Times disclosed that four major Chinese tech giants, including Alibaba and Bytedance, the parent company of TikTok, have made purchases worth $5 billion of the company’s GPUs. This move comes in response to escalating concerns that the Biden administration might soon impose restrictions on their access to US exports.

Simultaneously, the billionaire visionary Musk has displayed a profound interest in this technology as well. Insider’s report in April highlighted Musk’s acquisition of thousands of chips for his generative AI venture, xAI. Subsequently, in the same month, he affirmed, “Both Twitter [now X] and Tesla are unquestionably procuring GPUs.”

The engagement of the Gulf states further contributes to the mounting indicators that Nvidia might be grappling with challenges to fulfill the immense demand for its GPUs. Insider’s report in June underscored the existing scarcity and elevated costs of Nvidia GPUs to such an extent that venture capitalists are now directly purchasing them for their portfolio companies.