WSJ: US Used Armenia's Access to NVIDIA Chips as Incentive in Negotiations with Azerbaijan
05.09.2026,
10:22
American negotiators used the promise of expanding Armenia's access to NVIDIA's advanced AI chips as one of the incentives for reaching a preliminary peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
YEREVAN, September 5. /ARKA/. American negotiators used the promise of expanding Armenia's access to NVIDIA's advanced AI chips as one of the incentives for reaching a preliminary peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan. This was reported by The Wall Street Journal, citing people involved in the negotiations.
According to the WSJ, the agreement concerned expanding permits for the acquisition of modern AI chips for Armenia's Firebird project.
The publication calls this approach an example of "chip diplomacy"—when access to advanced technologies is used as a foreign policy tool.
The WSJ cites this information, citing people involved in the negotiations; the publicly announced linkage of export permits to the peace process has not previously been reported.
The Firebird AI Factory in Hrazdan was officially launched on August 8, 2026. According to the Armenian Ministry of High-Tech Industry, after the completion of the third phase of the project by the end of 2027, its capacity is planned to increase to more than 100,000 NVIDIA Blackwell and Vera Rubin GPUs and over 400 MW.
NVIDIA also announced its intention to invest in Firebird.
In April, the Armenian Ministry of High-Tech Industry and Firebird signed an agreement under which the state will purchase $25 million worth of high-performance computing resources from the company over five years.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the Armenian example demonstrates how technology and export permits are becoming part of US foreign policy tools.
According to the WSJ, the agreement concerned expanding permits for the acquisition of modern AI chips for Armenia's Firebird project.
The publication calls this approach an example of "chip diplomacy"—when access to advanced technologies is used as a foreign policy tool.
The WSJ cites this information, citing people involved in the negotiations; the publicly announced linkage of export permits to the peace process has not previously been reported.
The Firebird AI Factory in Hrazdan was officially launched on August 8, 2026. According to the Armenian Ministry of High-Tech Industry, after the completion of the third phase of the project by the end of 2027, its capacity is planned to increase to more than 100,000 NVIDIA Blackwell and Vera Rubin GPUs and over 400 MW.
NVIDIA also announced its intention to invest in Firebird.
In April, the Armenian Ministry of High-Tech Industry and Firebird signed an agreement under which the state will purchase $25 million worth of high-performance computing resources from the company over five years.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the Armenian example demonstrates how technology and export permits are becoming part of US foreign policy tools.
