Opinion: How International Partners Might Drive US AI Development

Recent announcements of more than $2 trillion in strategic deals between the United States, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and Qatar signify more than economic cooperation. They represent a turning point in global affairs — a declaration that artificial intelligence (AI) has now fully emerged as a formal instrument of national and international power.

As such, we are witnessing the advent of what I call “Strategic AI Internationalization” — the embedding of AI capabilities, infrastructure and norms into the geopolitical architectures of alliance, deterrence and economic interdependence.

A Pragmatic Realignment of Alliances

U.S. foreign policy has historically operated through an ideological lens. Alliances were built on shared values such as democracy, rule of law and liberal economics. The current set of deals signals a decisive shift: pragmatism now trumps ideology. The U.S., in pursuing AI alliances with countries whose political and social systems diverge from Western liberal norms, reveals a strategic priority: global AI dominance and ecosystem leadership.

Rather than interrogating governance models or domestic policies of its partners, the U.S. is now laser-focused on constructing practical techno-industrial alliances. This approach reflects a deeper recognition: AI is a new form of strategic capital, and alliances must now be built on shared infrastructure, research, data ecosystems and compute power — not only on shared philosophies.

AI as a Structural Lock-In Mechanism

These partnerships go beyond traditional transactional cooperation. They lay the foundation for technological interdependence that creates structural lock-ins. Once a nation builds its AI data centers on U.S. cloud architecture, trains models using U.S. silicon, and adopts American standards for AI governance, its ability to pivot toward a competing geopolitical bloc, such as China, diminishes sharply.

The embeddedness of infrastructure leads to long-term technological dependence. This is not merely vendor lock-in; it is sovereign lock-in — a new geopolitical tool that secures alliances through architecture, not treaties.

As AI systems grow more integrated with defense, energy, education and health care in these partner nations, the switching costs grow exponentially. The more a country builds its future on U.S.-aligned AI, the more its fate becomes entangled with the United States’ technological trajectory.

The Sovereign AI Mirage: Infrastructure Without Talent

While some Gulf countries are promoting the idea of sovereign AI models — training large language models (LLMs) locally on national data centers — true AI sovereignty cannot be achieved through infrastructure alone. The real differentiator is talent: researchers, data scientists, engineers and domain experts who can build, test, tune and govern these systems.

The challenge for the Gulf lies in developing the human capital necessary to support such sovereign ambitions. Without robust education systems, AI-focused universities and open innovation environments, these data centers risk becoming monuments to aspiration rather than engines of transformation.

Therefore, for the $2 trillion investment to yield real technological independence or leadership, workforce development must be prioritized alongside silicon and compute.

Containing China Through AI Standardization

Perhaps one of the most profound implications of these deals is the strategic containment of China in the Middle East. For over a decade, China has made significant inroads in the region through digital infrastructure, 5G, cloud services and smart city technologies.

This new wave of U.S.-led AI agreements effectively serves as a digital counteroffensive. The adoption of American AI infrastructure and standards crowds out Chinese influence and resets the playing field in favor of U.S.-led protocols — governing not just software and hardware, but also ethics, safety, interpretability and military integration.

In effect, we are seeing the standardization of trust. Nations that plug into the U.S.-led AI system also adopt the assumptions embedded in its governance models — favoring transparency, explainability, alignment with human values and regulatory compliance.

AI Scale Economies and Declining Fixed Costs

Another powerful outcome of these deals is the economic scaling of AI infrastructure. As investments ramp up and demand increases, fixed costs — especially in AI chips and model training — begin to decline. This creates a reinforcing loop: more investment reduces costs, which invites more adoption, which drives further investment.

For the U.S., this means accelerated democratization of AI technologies within its sphere of influence. Emerging partners gain access to capabilities that were once limited to only a few global actors, while the U.S. strengthens its manufacturing base for high-performance compute systems.

AI chips, once a bottleneck in the global supply chain, may become more available and affordable — provided the investment is matched by domestic semiconductor capacity.

Alignment of Ethics, Research and Governance

Multilateral cooperation in AI also means alignment in ethics, research priorities and governance mechanisms. Collaborative research centers, joint model development and co-authored frameworks promote the convergence of value systems around safety, privacy, fairness and accountability.

This is crucial in avoiding a fragmented global AI ecosystem where incompatible ethical norms lead to mistrust or even conflict. Through this convergence, the U.S. is not just exporting compute power — it is exporting its philosophy of responsible innovation.

Such convergence becomes a soft power advantage. Nations that build AI under the U.S. paradigm become natural allies in future regulatory, diplomatic and technical disputes. The result is not just a technological network, but a cognitive coalition.

A Pathway to U.S. Reindustrialization

Finally, these deals offer the United States a rare opportunity for strategic reindustrialization. The inflow of capital can be used to reinvigorate American manufacturing, particularly in semiconductors, energy infrastructure, robotics and advanced materials.

The AI revolution demands physical infrastructure — data centers, cooling systems, fiber optics and AI-specific chips. Meeting these needs domestically restores production capability and generates high-skilled jobs. It also reduces dependence on fragile overseas supply chains.

In this way, AI becomes both a geopolitical tool abroad and an industrial catalyst at home.

AI as the New Operating System of Global Order

What we are witnessing is a redrawing of the global map — not through armies or ideology, but through systems, standards and silicon. Strategic AI internationalization represents a new architecture of power, one in which technological integration substitutes for formal treaties and infrastructure replaces rhetoric.