Trump’s AI czar said partnering with Middle East countries on tech is important

President Donald Trump’s artificial intelligence and crypto czar David Sacks said Tuesday on “The Claman Countdown” that it was “very important” to partner with Middle Eastern countries like the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia in tech deals.

His appearance on “The Claman Countdown” came after Trump traveled to the Middle East last week to visit Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar, leading to over $2 trillion in deals spanning various sectors.

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Numerous large AI-related deals were unveiled by the Trump administration and major tech companies while his Middle East tour was taking place, including ones with the UAE and Saudi Arabia. 

Asked about concerns that AI deals with the Middle Eastern countries could potentially give China a backdoor to access technology, Sacks told host Liz Claman it’s “certainly a concern that we have to take seriously” but said there were “extensive security requirements in these deals.” 

David Sacks, CEO of Zenefits, speaks during 2016 TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco, California, U.S. Sept. 13, 2016.  (Beck Diefenbach / Reuters)

“I’m confident that we can make sure that this technology stays where it’s supposed to be,” he said. “And I think it’s very important to partner with these countries.”

“I don’t think that China is happy that we made these deals,” Sacks told Claman. “I think China would love to make these deals, and we got there first, and President Trump beat them to the punch.” 

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Trump’s AI and crypto czar said the Saudis and other Gulf State nations “are concerned that the U.S. is turning away from them” and argued the Biden administration did “pretty much everything in their power” to alienate them “including denying the participation in AI.”

He expressed confidence in the U.S.’s ability to keep the AI chips and hardware secure. 

“The question is, who do we want these countries to partner with?” he said. “If we reject them, we’re going to drive them into the arms of China, and China would love to sell the chips to these countries. We will create a Huawei Belt and Road if we don’t enable their AI dreams and aspirations, so I think it’d be a major mistake to reject them.” 

ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – U.S. President Donald J. Trump is greeted by young girls as he arrives for an official arrival ceremony at Qasr al Watan (Palace of the Nation) May 15, 2025, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.  (Win McNamee / Getty Images)

“We want them to be the piggy bank for US AI and US AI infrastructure as opposed to Chinese infrastructure,” he told Claman.

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“Keep in mind that in these deals, there’s a matching requirement,” he added. “They have to spend and invest at least as much in the United States as they do in their own countries, so this deal is huge for advancing AI infrastructure in the United States, not just in their home countries.” 

The U.S. and China have been engaged in an AI race as the technology and the hardware that enables it has seen increasingly high demand in recent years.