The United Arab Emirates is seeking a “marriage” with the US over artificial intelligence as the Gulf state hopes to use its petrochemical wealth to become a global superpower in developing the cutting-edge technology.
The UAE’s AI minister Omar Sultan Al Olama told the Financial Times that a recent deal with Microsoft to acquire a $1.5bn stake in Abu Dhabi’s commercial AI champion G42 was only the start of greater tech collaboration between the two countries.
That deal, which followed months of negotiations between US and UAE officials, led to G42’s promise that it would dump Chinese systems as the US seeks to maintain dominance over AI.
“Now you’re going to see the outcomes of that marriage, if I may use that word, between both G42 and Microsoft, but also the UAE and the United States,” said Al Olama. “When you look at the frontier technology, at the most cutting edge, that needs to be in co-ordination with the US players and there needs to be reassurances that are given to the US.”
Fuelled by sovereign wealth funds worth about $2tn, the UAE’s AI ambitions have emerged into sharper focus this year as it tries to lower its economic dependence on fossil fuels in part by positioning itself as a global AI hub.
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