FILE PHOTO: Lawmakers are demanding an assessment of Microsoft’s $1.5 billion investment in UAE-based artificial intelligence firm G42. | Photo credit: Reuters
Republican lawmakers have asked the Biden administration for an intelligence assessment of Microsoft’s $1.5 billion investment in UAE-based artificial intelligence firm G42 over concerns about the transfer of sensitive technology and G42’s historical ties to China.
Representatives Michael McCaul, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and John Moolenaar, chairman of the China Select Committee, made the brief request in a letter dated Wednesday to White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, the committee said.
Republicans said they wanted to brief them on the deal, announced in April, before moving on to a second phase that would include export-restricted transfers of semiconductor chips and model weights, advanced data that improves the ability of AI models to imitate human judgment.
The letter is a sign of concern over the lack of regulations on the export of sensitive AI models, amid fears that companies like G42 could share prized technology with US adversaries like China.
(For today’s top tech news, subscribe to Cache’s current tech newsletter)
“We remain deeply concerned by the attempt to move quickly to advance the partnership that involves the unprecedented transfer of highly sensitive, US-original technology, without congressional discussion or clearly defined regulations in place,” the legislature said in a letter.
He called for a US assessment of the G42’s relationship with the Chinese Communist Party, military and government before the Microsoft deal moves forward. He cited the recent visit by UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to Beijing to discuss, according to China’s state news agency Xinhua, cooperation in AI.
Microsoft said in a statement that it is cooperating with the US government and that “US national security will continue to be a top priority.” Spokespeople for the G42, the White House, and the United Arab Emirates Embassy did not respond to requests for comment.
The Chinese Embassy said, “The US has repeatedly undermined cooperation between Chinese companies and other countries under false security pretexts.”
ABOUT CHINA
A aide of the House Select Committee told reporters on the phone on Thursday that based on the conversation with Microsoft, the lawmakers expect the US company to export “if not too limited AI semiconductor chips to train the model as well as the weight of the AI ​​model.”
Microsoft President Brad Smith told Reuters in May that the deal with G42 could eventually involve the transfer of advanced chips and devices.
The Republican letter also cited the G42’s past “digital surveillance” work as an area of ​​risk. The aide highlighted previous ties between G42 staff and Emirati cyber security firm DarkMatter, which was the subject of a 2019 Reuters investigation into cyber espionage activities.
The US has been concerned about China’s influence in the Middle East and the United Arab Emirates, a longtime US ally.
But the G42 said in February it was cutting investment in China and accepting restrictions imposed by the United States on working with US companies. G42 previously had investments or partnerships in China with TikTok owner ByteDance, vaccine developer Sinopharm and US-listed biotech firm BGO Genomics.
The New York Times reported in April that Microsoft’s deal with the G42 was largely orchestrated by the Biden administration to woo China. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told the newspaper that Microsoft’s deal does not allow the transfer of AI models or processors to the G42 to develop AI applications.
Along with Microsoft, Abu Dhabi’s wealth fund Mubadala, the state’s ruling family and US private equity firm Silver Lake hold stakes in G42, whose chairman, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is the UAE’s national security adviser and the president’s brother.
Reuters reported in May that the Commerce Department was considering rules to limit the export of proprietary or proprietary AI. Currently, there is nothing stopping US AI giants from selling to almost anyone around the world without government oversight.