US offered Armenia Nvidia chip access to secure Azerbaijan peace deal, WSJ reports

September 5, 2026 at 11:00 AM2 min

This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.

Washington persuaded Yerevan to accept a preliminary peace agreement with Baku partly by promising access to Nvidia AI chips, The Wall Street Journal reported. The incentive included expanded permits to purchase chips for the Firebird data center in Hrazdan. The deal was signed on August 8, 2025, after a trilateral meeting with President Donald Trump.

Key Facts

The Wall Street Journal reported that US negotiators offered Armenia expanded permits to purchase Nvidia chips for the Firebird data center in Hrazdan.
Firebird developers plan to install 70,000 Nvidia Grace Blackwell and Vera Rubin AI servers in the data center by the end of 2027.
On August 8, 2025, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint declaration on peace settlement in Washington after meeting with President Donald Trump.
The peace project, named Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP), includes a strategic transit corridor through Armenia's Syunik region.
The United States will hold exclusive rights to implement the TRIPP project for up to 99 years, with the possibility of subleasing sections to an international consortium.

US Incentive for Armenia

The Wall Street Journal reported that Washington persuaded Yerevan to accept a preliminary peace agreement with Baku partly by promising access to Nvidia AI chips. According to the newspaper's sources among negotiation participants, one incentive for Yerevan was expanded permits to purchase chips for the Firebird data center in Hrazdan. US negotiators believed Armenia would be more likely to agree to a peace settlement if offered closer economic ties with the United States, including permission to buy powerful Nvidia chips. Former US Ambassador to Armenia Christina Quinn told the newspaper that Nvidia was a very important piece of this puzzle.

Firebird Data Center

Firebird project developers plan to place 70,000 of the latest Nvidia Grace Blackwell and Vera Rubin AI servers in the data center by the end of 2027. The data center is located in the city of Hrazdan, Armenia.

TRIPP Peace Project

On August 8, 2025, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint declaration on peace settlement between Baku and Yerevan after a trilateral meeting with US President Donald Trump in Washington. The declaration also included the creation of a transport communication between mainland Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan, named the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP). The TRIPP project envisions a strategic transit corridor through Armenia's Syunik region. The initiative is economic in nature and includes construction of a railway, highway, oil pipeline, gas pipeline, and fiber-optic communication lines. An American company will implement the project in accordance with Armenian legislation, without a military component. The United States will receive exclusive rights to implement the project for up to 99 years, with the possibility of transferring individual sections to sublease to an international consortium responsible for development and safe operation of the infrastructure.