The investment will strengthen the two companies’ collaboration on bringing the latest Microsoft AI technologies to the UAE
Microsoft has announced an investment of $1.5 billion in G42, an UAE-based artificial intelligence (AI) technology holding company.
The investment will strengthen the two companies’ collaboration on bringing the latest Microsoft AI technologies and skilling initiatives to the UAE and other countries around the world, the partners said in a release.
Under this expanded collaboration, G42 will run its AI applications and services on Microsoft Azure and partner to deliver advanced AI solutions to global public sector clients and large enterprises. The pair will also work together to bring advanced AI and digital infrastructure to countries in the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa.
Microsoft also said that the partnership with the Arab company will support the development of a skilled and diverse AI workforce and talent pool that will drive innovation and competitiveness for the UAE and broader region.
“Our two companies will work together not only in the UAE, but to bring AI and digital infrastructure and services to underserved nations,” said Brad Smith, Microsoft vice chair and president. “We will combine world-class technology with world-leading standards for safe, trusted, and responsible AI, in close coordination with the governments of both the UAE and the United States.”
Microsoft explained that the commercial partnership is backed by assurances to both governments through what the company said is a first of its kind agreement to apply world-class best practices to ensure the secure, trusted and responsible development and deployment of AI. Both companies will move forward with a commitment to comply with U.S. and international trade, security, responsible AI and business integrity laws and regulations.
“Through Microsoft’s strategic investment, we are advancing our mission to deliver cutting-edge AI technologies at scale. This partnership significantly enhances our international market presence, combining G42’s unique AI capabilities with Microsoft’s robust global infrastructure,” said Peng Xiao, Group Chief Executive Officer of G42.
In April 2023 both companies announced the development of AI solutions tailored for the public sector and industry, leveraging Microsoft’s extensive partner ecosystem and cloud capabilities. In September 2023, the companies entered into an agreement to introduce sovereign cloud offerings and collaborate on unlocking the potential of advanced AI capabilities on the Azure public cloud platform. Lastly, in November 2023, Microsoft announced the availability of G42’s Jais Arabic Large Language Model on the new Azure AI Cloud Model-as-a-Service offering.
