This investment will strengthen collaboration between the two companies in bringing Microsoft's latest AI technologies to the UAE.
Microsoft announced a $1.5 billion investment in UAE-based artificial intelligence (AI) technology holding company G42.
The investment will strengthen the two companies' collaboration in bringing Microsoft's latest AI technology and upskilling efforts to the UAE and the rest of the world, the partners said in a release.
Under this expanded collaboration, G42 will run AI applications and services on Microsoft Azure, partnering to deliver advanced AI solutions to public sector customers and large enterprises worldwide. The two will also work together to provide advanced AI and digital infrastructure to countries in the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa.
Microsoft also said its partnerships with Arab companies will support the development of a skilled and diverse AI workforce and talent pool that will drive innovation and competitiveness in the UAE and the wider region.
“The two companies will work together to bring AI and digital infrastructure and services to underserved countries, not just the UAE,” said Brad Smith, vice chairman and president of Microsoft. “We will work closely with the governments of both the UAE and the United States to combine world-class technology and world-leading standards for safe, reliable and responsible AI.”
Microsoft said the commercial partnership will help both countries through what the company said is a first-of-its-kind agreement that applies world-class best practices to ensure the safe, reliable and responsible development and deployment of AI. It explained that it was backed by guarantees to the government. The companies will continue to advance their commitment to comply with U.S. and international trade, security, responsible AI and business integrity laws and regulations.
“Through Microsoft's strategic investment, we are furthering our mission to deliver cutting-edge AI technology at scale. This partnership combines G42's unique AI capabilities with Microsoft's robust global infrastructure. This will significantly strengthen our presence in the international market,” said Peng Xiao, CEO of G42 Group.
In April 2023, the companies announced the development of customized AI solutions for the public sector and industry, leveraging Microsoft's extensive partner ecosystem and cloud capabilities. In September 2023, the two companies signed an agreement to collaborate to introduce sovereign cloud products and unlock the potential of advanced AI capabilities on the Azure public cloud platform. Finally, in November 2023, Microsoft announced that its G42's Jais Arabic large-scale language model will be available in the new Azure AI Cloud Model-as-a-Service offering.
