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Microsoft has said it wants more “clarity and consistency” regarding US export controls which have delayed shipments of cutting-edge artificial intelligence chips to the Middle East, while announcing the opening of latest AI institutes with its Abu Dhabi-based partner G42.
The Seattle-based company invested $1.5 billion in G42 this 12 months and desires to make use of the UAE's largest AI company as a gateway to markets in Africa and Asia, where it believes demand for AI is unmet and growing.
However, the US has to this point restricted the export of chips specifically designed for AI software to the Middle East, fearing the technology could leak to China. Microsoft has still not received the licenses to produce components needed for a few of its plans with G42. The company has come under fire from US lawmakers for its past ties to Chinese firms.
Brad Smith, president and vice chairman of Microsoft, told the Financial Times: “We all need clarity and consistency from the US government on the small print of the export control regime. The US government has done a number of work on this issue specifically over the summer, and I’m confident that clarity will emerge.”
Smith added that while export applications from Microsoft and others are “not 100% complete yet, they’re very close.”
Despite these delays, Microsoft and G42 announced on Tuesday that they might jointly establish two latest research institutes based in Abu Dhabi that might give attention to developing AI systems for developing countries, including in non-Western languages resembling Arabic and Hindi.
Microsoft will invest thousands and thousands of dollars and supply access to computing infrastructure for an “AI for Good Lab” that can work with nonprofits in Kenya to develop tech products.
The institutes will give attention to the responsible use of AI and addressing social problems in countries within the so-called global south. They are a part of an effort to indicate firms that they’re using AI conscientiously and to make the technology available beyond Western markets.
Peng Xiao, CEO of G42, said: “What reassures the US government on the subject of export controls is the reassurance that we’re the house of responsible and secure AI.”
The push comes as states struggle to manage this rapidly evolving technology following warnings that it could harm society, from the spread of misinformation to the lack of human jobs.
Xiao, who was born in China, studied within the United States and is now a citizen of the United Arab Emirates, pointed to the most recent software release from Microsoft-backed OpenAI for instance of the opportunities and risks of artificial intelligence.
While AI could help developers greatly improve their programming skills, Xiao said, “you may imagine that somebody who knows nothing about code can start giving verbal commands (giving instructions to the person) the right way to develop a bit of software that may potentially hack right into a phone.”
Smith also linked the responsible use of AI to appeasing American concerns about who gets ownership of graphics processing units, the hardware components needed to develop advanced AI models.
The oil-rich state of Abu Dhabi – which has big ambitions to grow to be a world center for artificial intelligence – has tried to reassure US authorities about their concerns about technology transfer, despite its close ties to Beijing.
The UAE's efforts to secure access to AI technology are being led by powerful national security adviser and G42 chairman Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who oversees a sprawling business empire. US private equity group Silver Lake has also backed G42, as has Abu Dhabi state investor Mubadala.
Government officials and business people involved within the talks in Washington said that officials on the Department of Commerce and Industry were broadly comfortable with Microsoft's relationship with G42, but some security officials were hesitant to permit closer ties between the 2 groups.
To allay U.S. concerns, G42 has announced it is going to cut ties with Chinese suppliers resembling Huawei and stop producing their hardware. In a press release, G42 also said it had adopted a policy this 12 months to not do business “with firms” on the U.S. export control list. Xiao said he didn’t imagine the corporate had done this before.
