Abu Dhabi artificial intelligence group G42 is set to expand in the US, as the oil-rich Gulf state plans to invest tens of billions of dollars in the country and position itself as a global leader in the emerging technology.
The AI firm has recently established a US company as part of a move to increase its presence in the country, according to corporate filings. The AI group, which is backed by Abu Dhabi sovereign investor Mubadala, confirmed to the Financial Times that it was “committed to the USA market expansion and has established a legal entity towards that strategy”.
People familiar with the matter added that some of G42’s subsidiaries — which include AI applications, cloud computing and data centre companies — are expected to make announcements about US business plans in the coming months.
The expansion comes as the United Arab Emirates is betting big on AI, putting the technology at the heart of its economic diversification plans and even lawmaking. This has driven even greater investments into the US as part of a push to deepen collaboration over the powerful technology. G42 is chaired by the UAE’s powerful national security adviser Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al-Nahyan, who has spearheaded Abu Dhabi’s AI efforts with Washington and made clear it views the US as the most important source of AI technology.
Greater US presence will help Abu Dhabi companies get those investments done, the people said. Sheikh Tahnoon met with President Donald Trump at the White House in March, in a trip aimed at strengthening bilateral co-operation. The White House said after the visit that the UAE was committed to a $1.4tn, 10-year “investment framework” in the US, eclipsing the $600bn pledged to be invested over four years by regional rival Saudi Arabia.
Filings show that a company called G42 USA was incorporated in Delaware in January. Its cloud and enterprise subsidiary Core42 has already opened companies in the US and announced plans to launch its services in the country. G42 last year moved to invest $335mn in US chipmaker Cerebras, a deal that was cleared by Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (Cfius) last month — although it was only permitted to purchase non-voting shares.
The Abu Dhabi group’s move to accelerate its expansion under the Trump administration comes after Peng Xiao — G42’s China-born chief executive who has become a UAE citizen — sought to cut ties with Chinese hardware suppliers including Huawei following scrutiny by US lawmakers. Last year Microsoft invested $1.5bn for a minority stake in G42. It also has other US investors, including Ray Dalio’s family office and private equity firm Silver Lake.
Further details of G42’s expansion in the US remain unclear. The group’s data centre company Khazna told the FT it did not have plans to immediately start work in the US. “While we’re currently focused on opportunities across Apac and other priority regions, we’re closely observing developments through G42’s expansion in the US and will look to support and grow alongside that initiative when the time is right,” said Hassan Alnaqbi, Khazna’s chief executive.
Amid President Donald Trump’s tariff blitz, UAE officials have been keen to highlight the Gulf state’s willingness to bet on America for the long term, as well as its favourable trade surplus with the US. “UAE investment institutions are probably one of the largest foreign direct investors into the US economy for the last 20 years,” Mubadala chief executive Khaldoon al Mubarak said at a conference in Washington last month.
Source: https://www.ft.com/
