A meeting intended to allay fears that Emirati AI firm G42's deal with Microsoft could result in China accessing advanced US technology was reportedly cancelled by the UAE ambassador to the US.

Congressional staffers from the House Select Committee on China were due to travel to the UAE meet with officials from that nation, G42, and Saudi Arabia, between July 16 and 19, a spokesperson told The Register. The specific purpose of the meetings, we're told, was to discuss tech competition between the US and China. Also on the agenda was how the transfer of advanced AI technologies from Microsoft to G42 - and thus to the UAE and Saudi Arabia - would be protected from China.

Those meetings never materialized, a Committee spokesperson informed us, because the UAE's ambassador to the US apparently intervened personally to stop them.

Part of the Emirati ambassador's justification appears to be linked with a letter sent by Select Committee chair John Moolenaar (R-MI) and House Foreign Affairs Committee chair Michael McCaul (R-TX) earlier this month urging the White House to look into the deal between Microsoft and G42. Apparently the request rankled Emirati officials.  

Microsoft's $1.5 billion investment in G42 was secured in April, with the goal of deploying AI systems in the Middle East, Asia and Africa via Azure, under the control of the Emirati AI firm. But concerns were quick to surface over the potential for advanced AI technology exported to the UAE and Saudi Arabia to by misappropriated by China. 

G42, run by former head of Emirati cybersecurity firm DarkMatter Peng Xiao, has been suspected of having ties to the Chinese government for some time. The New York Times reported last year that Xiao's firm had already been supplying China with advanced technology and genetic data on millions of people. Intelligence officials have warned that G42 getting its hands on advanced chips from Nvidia and Cerebras would mean it was inevitable that such tech would end up in Chinese hands.

Responding to Moolenaar and McCaul's letter, the White House said last week that it still supported the Microsoft-G42 deal because the UAI business had agreed to remove Huawei equipment from its networks. 

"The effort to work with Microsoft as an alternative to Huawei is generally a positive development and one that we want to encourage," White House technology advisor Tarun Chhabra said in a speech last week. It's not clear if the White House's position has changed since the meeting cancellation - we've reached out for comment. 

Former Select Committee on China chairman Mike Gallagher (R-WI) praised G42's divestment from Chinese-owned firms in February, declaring it was imperative that the US and UAE work together to reduce both nations' exposure to Chinese state-affiliated entities. 

Gallagher resigned his seat in April, after facing backlash from his Republican colleagues over his deciding vote against the impeachment of Homeland Security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Given current Select Committee chair Moolenaar's continued complaints about the Microsoft-G42 deal, it's unlikely the Committee's position remains the same. 

The UAE, on the other hand, disputed the Committee's claims that the meeting was canceled over the July letter from Moolenaar and McCaul. An Embassy representative told us discussions scheduled to take place in the UAE were canceled due to nothing more than a misunderstanding. 

"There clearly was a miscommunication around the visit," the spokesperson explained. "The UAE Embassy was only made aware of the staff delegation shortly before it was about to arrive in the UAE." 

The Embassy claimed it had engaged and cooperated with the Committee on multiple occasions over the past few months, and has regularly briefed members "as the UAE and US work to strengthen the control of advanced technologies critical to both countries' shared security interests."

The Committee, meanwhile, told us the cancellation only raised further concerns over Microsoft's deal with G42. We're told to expect negotiations between Redmond and Xiao's AI biz to be more closely scrutinized by Congress going forward.

Microsoft and G42 have been contacted for comment. ®

https://www.theregister.com//2024/07/31/uae_g42_microsoft_us/