DUBAI, Sept 17 (Askume) – Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) and United Arab Emirates-based artificial intelligence company G42 said on Tuesday they would open two centres dedicated to “responsible” artificial intelligence in Abu Dhabi.
The UAE, led by government-backed company G42, is striving to become a global leader in artificial intelligence and is investing heavily in it to diversify its oil business.
Competition in the sector is growing as Qatar and Saudi Arabia position themselves as potential artificial intelligence hubs outside the United States and Washington worries about deepening ties between China and Gulf countries over possible transfers of technology to Beijing.
The companies said the deal builds on a partnership reached in April under which Microsoft will invest $1.5 billion in the UAE company.
The first center will bring together academic researchers and AI practitioners from the private sector to develop and share best practices for responsible AI.
Another centre will focus on tasks including developing large language models (computer programmes designed to generate answers to questions from large amounts of text) for “underrepresented languages”.
Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala and US private equity firm Silver Lake have stakes in G42, whose chairman is Sheikh Tanu bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s national security adviser and president.
G42 said earlier this year that it had withdrawn its investment in China, and when launching its partnership with Microsoft, both companies noted that the deal was backed by security guarantees from the US and UAE governments.
Microsoft and G42 said on Tuesday that the centers will work to ensure the “secure development, deployment, and use of generative artificial intelligence models and applications.”
The companies said G42 and its affiliates do not do business with any entities listed on the US government’s list and that Washington still bans certain exports, re-exports or transfers to those entities.
