Tech giant Microsoft continues to "throw money" at AI (Artificial Intelligence) and intends to expand its influence in the Middle East.

On the evening of April 15, local time, Microsoft released an official blog post announcing that Microsoft would invest $1.5 billion in G42, an AI company headquartered in the United Arab Emirates, to obtain a minority stake and board seats in G42. The two companies will work together to develop AI products and support the establishment of a $1 billion fund for developers to improve AI skills in the UAE and the wider region.

Microsoft says G42 is a leader in AI in the UAE region, and the agreement is guaranteed by the UAE government and the U.S. government, and is a further expansion of the existing partnership between the two companies. G42 will run its AI applications and services on Azure, Microsoft's cloud computing platform, to deliver advanced AI solutions to a wide range of industries in the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa. Microsoft will take a minority stake in G42, and Microsoft President Brad Smith will join G42's board of directors.

"We have taken the first step after working closely with the UAE and the U.S. government, considering the importance of (AI) technology and the importance that both countries and governments attach to it," Smith said in an interview with foreign media. In the future, we will continue to strengthen our cooperation in close contact with them. He also stressed that Microsoft's huge investment in the G24 "reflects our confidence in the UAE as a country, the G42 company and its CEO Xiao Peng."

According to the data, G42 was established in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates in 2018, and its business covers various fields from cloud computing to driverless cars, using its basic and applied AI and cloud computing capabilities to provide technical solutions for enterprises or organizations, and it is also the first national Internet platform in the United Arab Emirates. The name G42 is a reference to Douglas Adams' science fiction series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, in which the number "42" represents "the ultimate answer to life, the universe, and anything."

It is worth mentioning that Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the chairman and controlling shareholder of G42, is one of the richest and most influential people in Abu Dhabi. He is the UAE National Security Advisor and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Abu Dhabi's third largest sovereign wealth fund, ADQ (Abu Dhabi Development Holdings Limited). It has been reported that Sam Altman, the CEO of the emerging AI giant OpenAI, once tried to woo him in the hope of getting a huge sum of money from the UAE government.

There is no doubt that Microsoft's investment in G42 will strengthen the UAE's AI position in the region. Previously, foreign media reported that the G42 held talks with the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) of the U.S. Department of Commerce in 2023 and reached an understanding. Under the talks, the G42 will gradually withdraw from its operations in China, or the company will face punitive sanctions from the U.S. government.

On March 28, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian held a regular press conference. China-Arab Satellite TV reporter: According to reports, the UAE's artificial intelligence company G42 was forced to take sides by withdrawing from China. Do you have any comment?

Lin Jian said: We have noted relevant reports, and I would like to stress that China has always opposed the politicization, weaponization and pan-security of economic and trade issues, and opposes economic coercion that undermines the international economic and trade order and trade rules and threatens the stability of global industrial and supply chains.

On the other hand, since Microsoft's partner OpenAI exploded in 2022 with the launch of its chatbot ChatGPT, it can be seen that Microsoft wants to stay at the center of the AI boom. Microsoft also acknowledged that it sees its investment in the G42 as a springboard to other regions. "By joining forces, I think we can significantly accelerate the progress of AI services in the Global South," Smith said. ”

Microsoft has always been known for its "generosity" in AI investments. In March, Microsoft poached two co-founders and some employees from Infection AI, an AI startup founded in 2022 and raised $1.5 billion in funding. A person familiar with the matter revealed to foreign media that Microsoft paid more than $650 million to Infection AI for this.

Investments in generative AI roughly quadrupled between 2022 and 2023, according to financial data and software firm PitchBook. In the past year, AI startups have raised about $27 billion in funding, most of it from tech giants, with a series of huge deals struck by Microsoft, Google and Amazon accounting for about two-thirds of that $27 billion.