Artificial Intelligence

US clears export of advanced AI chips to UAE

December 9, 2024, 5:08 PM

The US has overcome misgivings about the UAE's relationship with China to approve computer chip exports

Microsoft owns $1.5bn stake in G42
G42 to use Microsoft services to run AI tools
Geopolitics complicates UAE chip purchasing

The US has approved the export of advanced computer chips used for artificial intelligence to the UAE, reports indicate.

Under the agreement the UAE will allow exports to a Microsoft-operated facility for use by Emirati state-backed AI company G42.

Microsoft has invested more than $1.5 billion in G42 and holds a minority stake and board seat in the company. As part of the deal, G42 would use Microsoft’s cloud services to run its AI applications, US-based news outlet Axios reported, citing two unnamed sources

Concerns over the possibility that G42 could transfer advanced chip technology to China had previously held up the chip deal.

G42 works across several AI fields: research, cloud computing, data centres, energy and more.

The company said earlier this year that it was working with US partners and the UAE’s government to comply with AI standards, and has developed a “regulated technology environment” that would allow the UAE to access US computing powers in the Emirates while retaining technological sovereignty.

Speaking to AGBI in October this year, Talal Al Kaissi, chief product and global partnerships officer at G42 subsidiary Core42, said the company’s regulated technology environment (a secure space where the company can access sensitive technology under strict guidelines) sets “a pretty high bar”.

Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala, the UAE’s ruling family and US private equity firm Silver Lake hold stakes in G42. The company’s chairman Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan is the UAE’s national security adviser and the brother of the UAE’s president.

In 2023, G42 paid US AI training company Cerebras Systems $100 million for the first stage in the construction and operation of a supercomputer designed to train and operate large language models, similar to ChatGPT or Google’s Bard.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia have also been buying up vast quantities of microchips from companies such as Nvidia, but geopolitical complications and high global demand have complicated procurement.