Will US pressure on UAE-China tech cooperation pay off?

Analysis

Adam Lucente

Dec 11, 2023

Abu Dhabi's crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, left, shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping after witnessed a signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Monday, July 22, 2019. — Andy Wong-Pool/Getty Images

The head of the Emirati artificial intelligence company G42 said in an interview on Thursday that the company will cut down its use of Chinese hardware, demonstrating the continued effects of the US-China technology rivalry on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Gulf.

In an interview with The Financial Times, G42 CEO Peng Xiao said the company needed to “make a choice” between working with the United States and China, and will phase out Chinese hardware in order to maintain its access to US-made chips.

“The impression we are getting from [the] US government and US partners is that we need to be very cautious,” Xiao told the outlet. “In order for us to further our relationship — which we cherish — with our US partners, we simply cannot do much more with [previous] Chinese partners.”

The Abu Dhabi-based G42 is one of the premier AI companies in the region, and develops AI for cloud computing, energy, health care and a variety of other purposes. It is chaired by UAE national security adviser Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan.