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HomeUS Republican lawmakers concerned over Microsoft-G42 AI deal

US Republican lawmakers concerned over Microsoft-G42 AI deal

WASHINGTON: Republican lawmakers are seeking an intelligence briefing on Microsoft’s $1.5 billion investment in UAE-based artificial intelligence firm G42, from the Biden administration, citing concerns over the transfer of sensitive technology and G42’s ties to China.

In a letter to Jake Sullivan, the White House National Security Advisor, Congressman Michael McCaul, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and John Moolenaar, who leads the Select Committee on China, asked for the briefing before the deal can enter a second phase.

Spokespeople for G42 and Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“We remain deeply concerned by attempts to move quickly to advance a partnership that involves the unprecedented transfer of highly sensitive, U.S.-origin technology, without congressional consultation or clearly defined regulations in place,” the lawmakers said in the letter, dated July 10.

The UAE and China maintain close ties across multiple fields of scientific research, experts say.

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Concerns over the Microsoft-G42 AI deal

“Given the ties between (China) and G42, as well as (China’s) continued interests in the UAE, we ask that the National Intelligence Council prepare an official Intelligence Community assessment on the ties between G42…to the Chinese Communist Party, the People’s Liberation Army, or any part of (China’s) apparatus, before this partnership proceeds further,” the letter reads.

The White House National Security Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In addition to concerns about the potential transfer of intellectual property to China via UAE entities, the committee cited G42’s past “digital surveillance” work as an area of possible risk.

“G42 has partnered with Huawei extensively, which the U.S. position is basically that Huawei technology wherever it located amounts to surveillance on behalf of the PRC,” said a staffer with the Select Committee on China.

The staffer also highlighted prior connections between G42 staff and Emirati cybersecurity firm DarkMatter, which was the subject of a 2019 Reuters investigation that revealed its involvement in covert cyber espionage activities.

The UAE and China’s embassies in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

For more updates, click here.

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