The United Arab Emirates’ leader will meet US President Joe Biden in Washington on Monday to discuss artificial intelligence co-operation as the Gulf nation tries to secure easier access to advanced US-made technology.
The meeting comes during Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan’s first official trip to the US in seven years and underscores his determination to win White House support in his efforts to transform the UAE into an AI leader.
The UAE is one of the US’s most important allies in the Middle East, but relations have been strained at times in recent years. Talks for a formal security pact with Washington have stalled, and Abu Dhabi was infuriated by what it saw as a lukewarm US response to attacks on the UAE’s capital by Houthi rebels from Yemen in 2022.