On Monday (September 23), US President Joe Biden is set to meet with the President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to discuss the UAE’s ambitious artificial intelligence (AI) program. The geopolitical rival, China, is closely watching this ambitious project.
The UAE, a wealthy oil-producing country, has been a long-term security partner of the United States. The country has been eager to acquire more US technology to develop its advanced technology industry.
G42, a state-backed AI startup in the UAE, has received a $1.5 billion investment from Microsoft and partnered with chip manufacturer Nvidia to use a supercomputer made by the US chip startup, Cerebras Systems.
However, the US has been concerned about the UAE’s close relationship with communist China. Fearful that US technology might be shared with China, the US has restricted the export of certain US technologies to the UAE and other Middle Eastern countries.
Under pressure from the Biden administration, G42 began dismantling its use of Chinese hardware this year and sold its investments in China to collaborate more closely with US companies, leading Microsoft to invest $1.5 billion in it.
Anwar Gargash, the UAE President’s foreign affairs advisor, stated ahead of his visit to the White House on Thursday (September 19), “We cannot miss this wave of technological advancement and must establish some form of cooperation with it.”
The White House announced that President Biden and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan will discuss areas of deepening cooperation between the two countries such as advanced technology, AI, investment, and space exploration.
This will be the UAE President’s first visit to the White House, although Sheikh Mohamed had visited the White House as the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi in 2015, meeting with President Barack Obama, and in 2017 with President Donald Trump. Sheikh Mohamed became the new President of the UAE in May 2022 and met with President Biden in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in July 2022.
The UAE President will also meet with US Vice President Kamala Harris and American business leaders.
The UAE is investing billions of dollars in the field of artificial intelligence, including developing Arabic and Hindi chatbot applications similar to OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
UAE officials believe that this Gulf country’s investment in AI will make it a significant economic player for a long time after the depletion of oil demand, thereby enhancing its international influence.
Faisal Al Bannai, the strategic research and advanced technology advisor to Sheikh Mohamed, said, “We have the potential to be a key player in this new era of information and technology.”
He stated in an interview with Reuters in July, “We have the elements to excel globally in artificial intelligence.”
UAE officials also believe that the UAE must control its own AI applications, developing globally competitive technology to ensure that no external actors can shut down, harm its performance, or alter its algorithms.
Al Bannai said, “What we least want to see is someone telling us in the future, ‘Whether you want it or not, this is the latest version.'”
While US officials are cautious about the relationship between the UAE and China, some view AI as a crucial area to strengthen technological ties between the US and the UAE, potentially differentiating Abu Dhabi’s relationship with Beijing.
Omar Sultan Al Olama, the UAE Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, acknowledged the need for enhanced coordination and engagement between the UAE and the US.
Al Olama mentioned in an interview in June, “We are willing to engage in it,” adding that Abu Dhabi is fully committed to becoming a long-term strategic technology partner for Washington.
He said, “We have not hidden our ambitions, but we will achieve it the right way. We will achieve it through cooperation, we will achieve it through transparency.”
Communist China is also seeking to establish AI partnerships with the UAE.
During Sheikh Mohamed’s visit to China in May, Chinese leader Xi Jinping called for enhanced cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence between the two countries.
Chinese AI companies SenseTime and Terminus Group are operating in the UAE. SenseTime has been sanctioned by the US due to its connections with the Chinese military-industrial complex, while Terminus Group is a facial recognition technology developer.
Ling Shao, the former Chief Scientist at Terminus Group who previously worked for G42, expressed that there are many opportunities in the UAE.
Despite US government reservations about the UAE’s pursuit of AI and its connections with China, the US industry believes it is crucial that the UAE has both the financial resources to fund expensive AI research and a government committed to driving its development.
Andrew Feldman, the CEO of US chip startup Cerebras, stated in July, “They are already among the leaders and are now moving towards the peak.”
(This article referenced reports from Reuters)