(Bloomberg) — Key Republican lawmakers have asked the Biden administration to prepare a formal intelligence community assessment of a budding partnership between Microsoft Corp. and Abu Dhabi AI firm G42, with a focus on the Emirati company’s ties to China.
Bloomberg’s most read articles
Reps. Michael McCaul and John Moolenaar, chairmen of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Select Committee on China, respectively, detailed their concerns about the deal in a letter to national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Wednesday.
“We support your efforts to work hand in hand with American companies like Microsoft to strengthen our dominance in the field of AI; however, we must also be aware of the risks posed by transferring our most critical AI technology, particularly when it comes to countries where the PRC is active,” the letter reads.
“The administration maintains regular dialogue with members of Congress to ensure they are informed about the opportunities and risks associated with digital infrastructure,” a National Security Council spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan looks forward to continuing this engagement, including with Chairman McCaul.”
Microsoft spokesman David Cuddy said: “We are working closely with the NSC and the Department of Commerce, and U.S. national security will remain a top priority.”
Yousef Al Otaiba, UAE Ambassador to the United States, said: “We have made substantial progress with the United States to strengthen security and control of critical technologies between the two countries.”
In April, Microsoft announced it would invest $1.5 billion in G42. Under the deal, Microsoft Chairman Brad Smith will join the UAE company’s board of directors and G42 will use Microsoft’s Azure cloud for its AI applications. The deal was supported by the Biden administration, which is determined to strengthen U.S. leadership in global AI and see G42 decouple from Chinese companies, including Huawei Technologies Co.
But the deal quickly drew scrutiny from Washington, where some officials had already grown wary of G42 because of its alleged ties to blacklisted Chinese companies. Concerns range from the possibility of China gaining access to sensitive U.S. technology to the risks of sending artificial intelligence to Gulf states with questionable human rights records.
One key question is whether the U.S. will approve shipments of Nvidia Corp.’s H100 chips for Middle Eastern data centers. Authorities have slowed the licensing process in recent months, Bloomberg reported, as they craft a national AI security strategy for the Gulf.
McCaul and Moolenaar said in their letter that they have had “many productive conversations” with Microsoft about their concerns. But they want to see “significantly stronger” national security safeguards before the U.S. transfers any sensitive technology — including hardware, services and research. They also called for a more formal framework around the export of AI chips and model weights.
Beyond the risks of hardware deliveries, some Pentagon officials also doubt that G42 will completely disconnect from China, a key promise that paved the way for the Microsoft partnership. A new Abu Dhabi investment vehicle called Lunate is taking over management of what was G42’s 42XFund, an entity that holds stakes in units of Chinese tech giants such as ByteDance Ltd. Lunate, like G42, is part of a business empire overseen by the UAE’s national security adviser, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
–With assistance from Dina Bass.
(Updated with NSC comment in fourth paragraph.)
Bloomberg Businessweek’s Most Read Articles
©2024 Bloomberg LP
News Source : finance.yahoo.com
Gn bussni
