Microsoft is making $1.5 billion invested in UAE-based AI company group 42 Holding (G42)announced on Tuesday that its AI technology will be introduced in the UAE and other countries.
G42's AI applications and services run on Microsoft's AI applications and services. Azure cloud platformThis enables customers to build, run, and manage AI applications. The two companies will partner to provide advanced AI services to public sector customers and businesses around the world, as well as provide AI infrastructure to countries in the Middle East, Central Asia, and Africa. and provide equitable access to coping services.” Eliminate business concerns while ensuring the highest standards of security and privacy. ”
Microsoft and G42 will both support a $1 billion development fund to help developers build AI talent and talent pools in the UAE and surrounding region. Brad Smith, vice chairman and president of Microsoft, will also join G42's board of directors.
“Our two companies will work together to bring AI and digital infrastructure and services to underserved countries, not just the UAE.” Smith said in a statement. “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.”
In August, G42 introduced “The world's most advanced” Arabic Large-Scale Language Model (LLM) called Jais. Microsoft says it will be available on Azure.
His Highness Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of the G42 and son of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Emirati and founder of the UAE, called the investment “a strong support for our company’s growth and innovation.” It is a pivotal moment in the journey, vision and execution between the two organizations.'' He said the partnership is a testament to “shared values and a desire for progress, and for greater collaboration and synergy around the world.'' It is to promote this,” he added.
In January, the G42 came under intense scrutiny from Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), chairman of the House Select Committee on the Communist Party of China. raised concerns about its ties to the company Also against blacklisted Chinese companies such as Huawei and the Beijing Genomics Institute, as well as the Chinese military and intelligence agencies.
In a letter to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, Gallagher said, “Several U.S. companies that develop and sell export-controlled technologies and products have extensive relationships with G42 and its subsidiaries, including Microsoft, Dell, and Open AI. We maintain a strong commercial relationship.” “Without restrictions on G42, the hardware and software developed by these U.S. companies is at serious risk of being diverted to G42’s China-based affiliates, many of which are under the watchful eye of the Chinese Communist Party. supporting the state and human rights violations.”
Mr Gallagher said G42 CEO Peng Xiao had “an extensive network of UAE- and China-based companies developing dual-use technologies and substantially supporting China's military-civil fusion and human rights abuses. “We operate and partner with the company.”
G42 denied the charges In Gallagher's letter.
Microsoft said its commercial partnership with G42 is “due to our assurance to both governments, through a first-of-its-kind agreement, that we will apply world-class best practices to ensure the safe, reliable and responsible development and deployment of AI.” It's substantiated,” he said. It added that both companies are committed to “complying with U.S. and international trade, security, responsible AI, and business integrity laws and regulations.”
Microsoft said the two companies developed an intergovernmental guarantee agreement to govern the partnership “in close consultation with both the UAE and U.S. governments.”
