Microsoft is putting $1.5 billion into a technology company run by the influential national security adviser of the United Arab Emirates. The company is headquartered in the UAE.
The acquisition was announced on Tuesday by Microsoft and G42, a holding company for technology. Brad Smith, the president of Microsoft, will join the board of directors of G42 as part of the agreement.
According to Microsoft, the agreement “was developed in close consultation with both the UAE and U.S. government.”
G42, an Abu Dhabi-based company, manages data centers throughout the Middle East and beyond and is rapidly identifying itself as an AI company. It has created Jais, which is regarded as the top Arabic-language AI model in the world.
G42 will use Microsoft’s cloud computing platform to run its artificial intelligence apps and services, and the two businesses will collaborate to provide digital infrastructure to the Middle East, Central Asia, and Africa nations where G42 has developed a foothold.
Due to American worries that it was too close to the Chinese government, G42 has earlier declared it would sever connections with Chinese hardware suppliers.
Because of its connections to a mobile app that has been classified as spyware, the corporation has been accused of spying. It has also been accused of gathering genetic material for the Chinese government in secret from Americans.
The chairman of the company’s board is Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the national security adviser for the United Arab Emirates.
The UAE is a “global player in cutting edge technology,” according to the U.S. Commerce Department, which also stated on Tuesday that it is collaborating with other nations to achieve “verifiable commitments” for the safe development and deployment of such technologies.”
Spokesman Brittany Caplin stated in a written statement that “When responsibly managed, investments like the one announced today have the potential to further innovation in digital technologies around the world,”