US approval of AI chip exports to Gulf states creates new risks for South Korea



Analysis US approval of AI chip exports to Gulf states creates new risks for South Korea Middle East chip approvals offer short term stability but impose compliance burdens and intensify rivalry with Taiwan John LeeNovember 20, 2025 SHARE COPY LINK FACEBOOK X LINKEDIN MASTODON A close-up of a semiconductor wafer, Dec. 2, 2018 \| Image: Unsplash The U.S. Commerce Department’s decision on Wednesday to grant conditional authorization for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to acquire Nvidia’s Blackwell chips signals a shift in how Washington allocates advanced artificial intelligence (AI) hardware capacity among partners, introducing new risks for South Korea. The approval removes short-term uncertainty over whether the U.S. would block overseas access to Nvidia’s most advanced processors, but it establishes an access control regime that ties chip supply to compliance with U.S. strategic goals and relative national competitiveness. For South Korea, which secured a commitment for 260,000 Blackwell GPU unitsin partnership with © Korea Risk Group. All rights reserved. No part of this content may be reproduced, distributed, or used for commercial purposes without prior written permission from Korea Risk Group. LATEST ANALYSIS 01Lee Jae Myung’s ‘pacemaker’ strategy tests South Korea’s leverage with Trump 02Trump’s Korea investment victory lap masks safeguards Seoul still controls 03North Korean POW dispute tests Seoul-Kyiv trust and future Ukraine policy 04South Korea’s CPTPP push exposes the cost of turning trade gains into consensus 05AI storage boom gives South Korea battery makers an EV overcapacity lifeline 06South Korea’s Mexico strategy runs into the hard limits of USMCA politics 07Preschool test ban forces South Korea’s English hagwons to rethink placement 08Lee Jae Myung’s Wall Street pitch tests South Korea’s capital market credibility

Analysis

US approval of AI chip exports to Gulf states creates new risks for South Korea

Middle East chip approvals offer short term stability but impose compliance burdens and intensify rivalry with Taiwan

John LeeNovember 20, 2025

US approval of AI chip exports to Gulf states creates new risks for South Korea

A close-up of a semiconductor wafer, Dec. 2, 2018 | Image: Unsplash

The U.S. Commerce Department’s decision on Wednesday to grant conditional authorization for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to acquire Nvidia’s Blackwell chips signals a shift in how Washington allocates advanced artificial intelligence (AI) hardware capacity among partners, introducing new risks for South Korea.

The approval removes short-term uncertainty over whether the U.S. would block overseas access to Nvidia’s most advanced processors, but it establishes an access control regime that ties chip supply to compliance with U.S. strategic goals and relative national competitiveness.

For South Korea, which secured a commitment for 260,000 Blackwell GPU unitsin partnership with

US approval of AI chip exports to Gulf states creates new risks for South Korea

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John Lee