Microsoft and UAE’s G42 to Establish Two New AI Centers in Abu Dhabi
Partnership to Focus on Ethical AI Practices and Large Language Models for Underrepresented Languages
Microsoft and G42 to Open Two AI Centers in Abu Dhabi for Responsible AI Development
DUBAI – Microsoft and United Arab Emirates-based artificial intelligence firm G42 will open two centers in Abu Dhabi to work on “responsible” AI initiatives, the companies said on Tuesday.
The United Arab Emirates, led by the government-backed G42, is trying to become a global leader in AI and is investing heavily in it to divest from oil.
The push comes amid growing competition in the region as Qatar and Saudi Arabia position themselves as potential AI hubs outside the US, as well as Washington’s concerns about deepening ties between China and Gulf states over potential technology transfers to Beijing.
The companies build on their April partnership, which saw Microsoft invest $1.5 billion in the Emirati company.
The first center will bring together academic researchers and AI practitioners from the private sector to develop and share best practices in responsible AI.
The other center will focus on tasks including building large language models — computer programs that draw from vast amounts of text to generate answers to questions for “underrepresented languages.”
Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala and US private equity firm Silver Lake own stakes in G42, whose chairman Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan is the UAE’s national security adviser and brother of the president.
The G42 said earlier this year it had divested itself of its investments in China and noted that at the time of Microsoft’s partnership, the deal was backed by guarantees from both companies to the governments of the United States and the United Arab Emirates regarding security.
Microsoft and the G42 said on Tuesday that the centers will work to ensure “generative AI models and applications are developed, deployed and deployed securely.”
The G42 and its affiliates do not conduct business with any company listed on the US government’s list of parties for which Washington maintains restrictions on certain exports, re-exports or transfers of goods, the companies said.
