G42, an AI company based in the United Arab Emirates, has teamed up with Nvidia, a U.S. chipmaker, to work on climate tech, G42 said on Friday
This comes before next week’s visit by the first president of the UAE to the White House.
In a statement, the Gulf-based business said that the two companies would work together to create AI solutions to improve weather forecasts’ accuracy worldwide. They will also establish an operational base and climate tech lab in Abu Dhabi.
The UAE, which the government-backed G42 runs, is investing much money into AI to help move its economy away from oil. Recently, UAE-based companies have made a number of deals with U.S. companies.
In April, Microsoft said it would spend $1.5 billion in G42; this week, the two companies said they would open two centers in Abu Dhabi.
Another company, MGX, which is backed by Abu Dhabi, is becoming a general partner in a $30 billion fund with BlackRock and Microsoft to invest in AI infrastructure.
Still, Washington is getting more worried that the UAE and other Middle Eastern countries could become a way for China to get advanced U.S. AI technology. It put new limits on exports of AI chips last year, making it necessary to get a license before sending them to certain countries.
On Monday, the president of the UAE, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is going to visit Washington, DC.
The White House said he would meet with US President Joe Biden to discuss security problems in the Middle East, new technologies, and AI.
He is also going to meet with business leaders and US Vice President Kamala Harris. In a briefing on Thursday, Anwar Gargash, the diplomatic advisor to the president of the UAE, told reporters that the main goals of the visit would be to work together on economic issues and in areas like artificial intelligence (AI).
“Sometimes people like to talk about some tensions in the relationship, but the big story is that this is our most important strategic relationship,” he said.