Qatar and UAE Join Pax Silica, U.S.-Led Alliance to Secure AI and Technology Supply Chain

Qatar and UAE to join U.S.-led effort to bolster technology supply chain

Jan 11 (Reuters) - Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will soon join a U.S.-led initiative to secure AI and semiconductor supply chains, Undersecretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg told Reuters in an interview. The addition of those two countries is notable given the Middle East's history of political divisions and reflects a U.S.-led effort to bring Israel and Gulf states into the same technology-focused economic framework. The program, dubbed Pax Silica, seeks to safeguard the full technology supply chain, including critical minerals, advanced manufacturing, computing and data infrastructure. It is a key pillar of the Trump administration's economic statecraft strategy to reduce dependence on rival nations and strengthen cooperation among allied partners. "The Silicon Declaration isn't just a diplomatic communiqué," Helberg said. "It's meant to be an operational document for a new economic security consensus." The group including Israel, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Britain and Australia. Qatar is expected to sign the Pax Silica declaration on Jan. 12, followed by the UAE on Jan. 15. Unlike traditional alliances, Helberg said, Pax Silica is a "coalition of capabilities," with membership driven by the industrial strengths and companies of each country. Helberg said he hopes the initiative can help accelerate the Middle East's economic transition away from energy dependence, toward a more diversified, technology-driven economy. "For the UAE and Qatar, this marks a shift from a hydrocarbon-centric security architecture to one focused on silicon statecraft," he said, The moves come against the backdrop of The Future Minerals Forum, a government‑led global minerals and supply chain conference hosted by Saudi Arabia that will bring together senior officials, industry leaders and investors in Riyadh from January 13‑15. Helberg said the Pax Silica group will focus this year on expanding membership, building strategic projects to secure supply chains and coordinating policies to protect critical infrastructure and technology. The group met in Washington last month. Helberg said he hopes it will meet a few times this year. He said discussions are under way on projects that could modernize trade and logistics routes, including the India-Middle East-Europe Corridor, using advanced U.S. technology to boost regional integration and expand America's economic footprint. U.S. and Israeli officials plan to launch a Pax Silica-linked Strategic Framework, including the "Fort Foundry One" industrial park in Israel to accelerate projects. AI cooperation will also be discussed, with a memorandum of understanding tentatively planned for January 16. Reporting By Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by Sergio Non and Alistair Bell Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Trump Administration Wants to Achieve 'Pax Silica' Through AI. Here's What That Means

The Trump administration is rapidly expanding an initiative to secure the global AI and tech supply chains. Led by the U.S., six countriesâ€"Israel, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Australia and the United Kingdomâ€"came together last month to form a coalition meant to safeguard the supply of silicon that is critical to most tech applications including AI. The effort is meant to span all levels of the supply chain, from critical minerals, energy and advanced manufacturing to semiconductors, AI infrastructure, and logistics. "It's meant to be an operational document for a new economic security consensus," undersecretary of economic affairs Jacob Helberg told Reuters on Sunday. "We encourage efforts to partner on strategic stacks of the global technology supply chain, including, but not limited to, software applications and platforms, frontier foundation models, information connectivity and network infrastructure, compute and semiconductors, advanced manufacturing, transportation logistics, minerals refining and processing, and energy," read a declaration signed by member countries. Although there are only seven countries in total that have signed on to the declaration, Helberg signaled that both Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will be joining the framework this coming week. The Trump administration has also engaged in discussions over the initiative with the European Union, Canada, and Taiwan. The program is called Pax Silica, modeled after Pax Romana, Latin for Roman Peace. "Silica" is related to "Silicon" in English, but that part is not Latin. The term describes a two-century-long period of relative political stability and economic prosperity in Ancient Rome as the empire, led by tyrannical emperors, doubled in size through notable bloody conquests, going on to eventually include a quarter of the world's population at the time. At the heart of this Pax Silica initiative is worries over an AI supply chain dominated by China. China controls roughly 90% of the world's supply of rare earth, a group of elements that are crucial for building the computer chips used in smartphones and AI systems. Last year, China leveraged this power by clamping down on rare earths exports in response to Trump's tariff measures against Beijing. The counter measures hit the global tech industry hard, and gave China's Xi Jinping an upper hand in trade talks with Trump. In response, the United States has led calls for a reduced dependence on Chinese critical minerals, something that treasury secretary Scott Bessent will also reportedly push for as he hosts top finance officials from the EU, Canada, Japan, the U.K., Australia, India, Mexico, and South Korea this week. While holding a near monopoly on critical elements, China is also focused on rapidly expanding its overall global influence, particularly when it comes to key infrastructure, tech, and AI. The effort started roughly a decade ago through the Belt and Road Initiative, an ambitious infrastructure investment project meant to strengthen China's trade ties and influence abroad. Last year, Chinese officials indicated a similar approach to artificial intelligence development as they called for the establishment of a global AI cooperation organization focused on open-source communities and joint research but centered in Shanghai, under Chinese terms and values. “By aligning our economic security approaches, we can start to have cohesion to basically block China’s Belt and Road Initiative â€" which is really designed to magnify its export-led model â€" by denying China the ability to buy ports, major highways, transportation and logistics corridors," Helberg told Politico last month. But while beating China in the global AI race is the Trump administration's primary goal, it's not the only one. State Department's economic security strategy is based on "four pillars," Helberg said in a press briefing following the Pax Silica summit: rebalancing trade, reindustrializing America, securing supply chains, and stabilizing conflict zones via economic solutions "from the sub-Saharan Africa to the Middle East." The last of these pillars makes the two latest alleged additions to the Pax Silica crew notable: Qatar and UAE, two of the most influential Arab nations. While the UAE normalized ties with Israel in 2020 under Trump's Abraham Accords and the two now have a trade relationship, Israel's offensive in Gaza has somewhat cooled these ties. And while Qatar is a key mediator in Israel-Hamas negotiations, it has no formal diplomatic ties with Israel and any cordial relations were put under further strain after Israel bombed the Qatari capital Doha in September 2025.

Qatar, UAE align with US, Israel on AI and chip security

Image credit: Getty Images Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will soon join a US-led initiative to secure AI and semiconductor supply chains, Undersecretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg told Reuters in an interview. The addition of those two countries is notable given the Middle East's history of political divisions and reflects a US-led effort to bring Israel and Gulf states into the same technology-focused economic framework. The program, dubbed Pax Silica, seeks to safeguard the full technology supply chain, including critical minerals, advanced manufacturing, computing and data infrastructure. It is a key pillar of the Trump administration's economic statecraft strategy to reduce dependence on rival nations and strengthen cooperation among allied partners. "The Silicon Declaration isn't just a diplomatic communiqué," Helberg said. "It's meant to be an operational document for a new economic security consensus." The group The group including Israel, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Britain and Australia. Qatar is expected to sign the Pax Silica declaration on Jan. 12, followed by the UAE on Jan. 15. Unlike traditional alliances, Helberg said, Pax Silica is a "coalition of capabilities," with membership driven by the industrial strengths and companies of each country. Helberg said he hopes the initiative can help accelerate the Middle East's economic transition away from energy dependence, toward a more diversified, technology-driven economy. "For the UAE and Qatar, this marks a shift from a hydrocarbon-centric security architecture to one focused on silicon statecraft," he said, The moves come against the backdrop of The Future Minerals Forum, a government‑led global minerals and supply chain conference hosted by Saudi Arabia that will bring together senior officials, industry leaders and investors in Riyadh from January 13‑15. Helberg said the Pax Silica group will focus this year on expanding membership, building strategic projects to secure supply chains and coordinating policies to protect critical infrastructure and technology. The group met in Washington last month. Helberg said he hopes it will meet a few times this year. Read: UAE to launch first Centre of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence He said discussions are under way on projects that could modernize trade and logistics routes, including the India-Middle East-Europe Corridor, using advanced US technology to boost regional integration and expand America's economic footprint. US and Israeli officials plan to launch a Pax Silica-linked Strategic Framework, including the "Fort Foundry One" industrial park in Israel to accelerate projects. AI cooperation will also be discussed, with a memorandum of understanding tentatively planned for January 16.