Microsoft, UAE's AI firm G42 to set up two new centres in Abu Dhabi

Microsoft and United Arab Emirates-based artificial intelligence company G42 will open two centres in Abu Dhabi to work on "responsible" AI initiatives, the companies said on Tuesday. The UAE, led by government-backed firm G42, is striving to become a global leader in AI and is investing heavily in it to diversify away from oil.

The push comes amid rising competition in the region as Qatar and Saudi Arabia pitch themselves as potential AI hubs outside the United States, as well as Washington's concerns over deepening ties between China and Gulf states over potential technology transfers to Beijing. The companies said the deal built on their April partnership, under which Microsoft is investing $1.5 billion in the Emirati firm.

The first centre will bring together academic researchers and AI practitioners from the private sector to develop and share best practices in responsible AI. The other centre will focus on tasks including developing large language models - computer programs that draw from vast amounts of text to generate responses to queries - for "underrepresented languages".

Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala and US private equity firm Silver Lake hold stakes in G42, whose chairman, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is the UAE's national security advisor and the president's brother.

G42 said earlier this year it had divested its investments in China and at the time of the Microsoft partnership, both firms noted that the deal was backed by assurances to the US and UAE governments over security. Microsoft and G42 said on Tuesday the centres will work to ensure "generative AI models and applications are developed, deployed and used safely."

G42 and its affiliates do not conduct business with any entity listed on a U.S. government list of parties for which Washington maintains restrictions on certain exports, re-exports, or transfers of items, the firms said.