By Alexander Cornwell
DUBAI (Reuters) – President Joe Biden will host the United Arab Emirates president on Monday for a go to set to incorporate White Home talks on the Gulf state’s plans for synthetic intelligence, an formidable effort additionally drawing curiosity from U.S. geopolitical rival China.
The UAE, a rich oil producer and longtime safety accomplice of the U.S., is hoping for better entry to American know-how to construct its personal superior tech business.
G42, the state-backed know-how firm, has already secured a $1.5 billion funding from Microsoft, partnered with chipmaker Nvidia and is utilizing supercomputers constructed by Cerebras Techniques.
However the U.S. has been involved concerning the UAE’s heat relationship with China and positioned restrictions on exports of some American know-how to the UAE and different Center Japanese states over considerations that it could possibly be shared with Beijing.
Below strain from the Biden administration, G42 this yr started ripping out Chinese language {hardware} it was utilizing and offered off Chinese language funding so it might work extra intently with American corporations. That preceded the $1.5 billion Microsoft funding.
“We can not let this kind of wave of technological breakthroughs cross by us and never be in some way in partnership with it,” Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the UAE’s president instructed journalists on Thursday forward of the White Home go to.
The White Home has stated Biden and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to debate areas of deepening cooperation like superior know-how, synthetic intelligence, investments and area exploration.
Will probably be the primary time a UAE president visits the White Home, though Sheikh Mohamed, as crown prince of Abu Dhabi, visited the White Home in 2015 to fulfill President Barack Obama and in 2017 to fulfill President Donald Trump. Sheikh Mohamed met President Biden in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in 2022.
The UAE president can be as a consequence of meet Vice President Kamala Harris and leaders from the American enterprise group.
AI AMBITIONS
The UAE is pouring billions of {dollars} into synthetic intelligence, which has included the event of Arabic and Hindi language chatbot functions just like OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Emirati officers consider the Gulf state’s wager on synthetic intelligence will strengthen its worldwide clout by making it a key financial actor lengthy after demand for oil has dried up.
“We’re ready to be a pivotal nation on this new info and know-how age,” stated Faisal Al Bannai, Sheikh Mohamed’s adviser on strategic analysis and superior know-how.
“We predict we now have the elements to construct AI that may compete globally,” he instructed Reuters in a July interview.
Emirati officers additionally argue the UAE should have management over its personal AI and develop its personal, globally-competitive know-how in order that it might assure no outdoors actor might shut down the know-how, hurt its efficiency or alter its algorithms.
“The very last thing we need to be in, is sooner or later as a nation, somebody telling us nicely, you’ll get the newest model or you’ll not get the newest model,” Al Bannai stated.
Though U.S. officers are cautious of the UAE’s relationship with China, some consider synthetic intelligence and fostering nearer U.S.-UAE know-how ties is one space the place Washington might drive a wedge between Abu Dhabi and Beijing.
The UAE’s Minister of State for Synthetic Intelligence Omar Sultan Al Olama has acknowledged that there’s a want for better alignment and engagement between the UAE and the U.S.
CHINA SEEKS AI PARTNERSHIP WITH UAE
“There’s the willingness for us to interact,” he stated in a June interview, including that Abu Dhabi was absolutely dedicated to being a long run strategic know-how accomplice with Washington.
“We have not been shying away from our ambitions however we’ll do it in the suitable means. We’ll do it by means of partnership. We’ll do it by means of transparency.”
China additionally sees the UAE as a long-term know-how accomplice.
Throughout a go to to Beijing in Might by Sheikh Mohamed, Chinese language President Xi Jinping known as on the 2 nations to strengthen synthetic intelligence cooperation.
Chinese language AI corporations SenseTime, sanctioned by the U.S. which has stated it has hyperlinks to China’s army industrial complicated, and Terminus Group, each builders of facial recognition know-how, are additionally working within the UAE.
Terminus Group’s Chief Scientist Ling Shao, who beforehand labored for G42, stated there have been many alternatives within the UAE.
However whereas the U.S. authorities might have reservations concerning the UAE’s pursuit of AI and ties with China, what’s essential for American business is that the UAE has each the monetary assets to fund costly synthetic intelligence analysis and a authorities dedicated to advancing its growth.
“They’re among the many leaders at present they usually’re on a path to be on the very prime,” Cerebras CEO Andrew Feldman stated in July.
(Reporting by Alexander Cornwell with further reporting by Federico Maccioni; Writing by Alexander Cornwell and Andrew Mills, Modifying by William Maclean)
