Microsoft AI deal with UAE’s G42 at risk due to national security concerns

Microsoft’s AI deal with the UAE’s G42 group is reportedly at risk due to national security concerns.

Note that in May, Microsoft and G42, the Emirati artificial intelligence company, announced plans to spend $1 billion on projects in Kenya, including a massive data center powered by geothermal energy. The deal was negotiated with input from the governments of the United States and the UAE and coincided with a summit meeting in Washington between President Joe Biden and Kenyan President William Ruto, according to Bloomberg.

Supporters of the Kenya project see it as a potential blueprint for similar government-business partnerships that would help the United States expand its political and economic influence in the Global South – the emerging markets of Africa and Central Asia, where China is already entrenched.

Microsoft and G42 pledged to cooperate on multiple projects in the coming years, to benefit from the UAE’s regional relations.