Microsoft is speeding up the “siege of the ground” in the AI field.

On April 15, local time, Microsoft announced that it will invest 1.5 billion US dollars in the UAE artificial intelligence company G42 and obtain minority shares and board seats in the company.

US stocks opened on Tuesday. Microsoft changed yesterday's decline and rebounded. Now it has risen 0.83% to 417.08 US dollars.

Microsoft said in a statement that this strategic investment will provide advanced artificial intelligence solutions to various industries and markets in the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa.

As part of the agreement, Microsoft President Brad Smith will join G42's board of directors, and G42 will use Microsoft's Azure cloud for artificial intelligence applications.

The company will also support the establishment of a $1 billion fund for developers to improve artificial intelligence skills in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the wider region.

On Tuesday, G42 also responded on the X platform, saying it is pleased to have received Microsoft's $1.5 billion investment, which marks an important step forward on its path to leading AI innovation around the world.

According to reports, G42 is a technology holding company and a giant in the field of artificial intelligence in the UAE.

G42 is chaired by UAE National Security Adviser Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al-Nahyan (Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al-Nahyan), who is in charge of a huge commercial empire.

Additionally, Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund Mubadala and US private equity firm Silver Lake also hold shares in G42.

G42 covers everything from data centers to healthcare, and it has produced a big Arabic language model called Jais.

Since its inception in 2018, G42 has partnered with major companies such as OpenAI, Dell, IBM, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Oracle; Cerebras, which is building the G42 supercomputer; pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca; genetic giant Illumina; and Mercedes.

This strategic partnership with Microsoft will also advance G42's strategy to provide generative AI and next-generation infrastructure and services to a range of customers in the financial services, healthcare, energy, government, and education sectors.

Microsoft's deal with G42 will also give the UAE a huge boostThe UAE has been working hard to establish itself as a key technology center in the Middle East, especially in fields such as artificial intelligence.

For Microsoft, this is undoubtedly once again consolidating its AI “moat.”

Following the launch of OpenAI's ChatGPT in November 2022, Microsoft has positioned itself as the center of the artificial intelligence boom.

This time Microsoftinvests G42 It is also viewed as a springboard for entering other regions.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella (Satya Nadella) believes that the dominance of artificial intelligence is critical to getting ahead of competitors and is also a way to encroach on the dominant position of Google, a major competitor in the search field.

Microsoft has been trying to monopolize the market by investing heavily.

Last month, Microsoft reached a $6.5 billion deal to hire the founder of artificial intelligence startup Inflection and dozens of researchers and engineers.

Microsoft has been the biggest investor during the investment frenzy of the past 18 months. Investments in generative artificial intelligence roughly quadrupled between 2022 and 2023, according to private equity market data provider PitchBook.

As for Microsoft and G42, in fact, the two sides began a number of collaborations as early as last year.

A joint program announced in April 2023 leverages Microsoft's extensive partner ecosystem and cloud capabilities to develop artificial intelligence solutions tailored to the public sector and industry.
In September 2023, the two companies reached an agreement to launch sovereign cloud products and collaborate to unlock the potential of advanced artificial intelligence capabilities on the Azure public cloud platform.
In November 2023, Microsoft announced the availability of G42's Jais Arabic large-scale language model on a new Azure AI cloud model-as-a-service product.

Regarding this strategic investment, Microsoft Vice Chairman and President Brad Smith (Brad Smith) said:

“Our two companies will not only work together in the UAE, but will also bring artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure and services to underserved countries. We will combine world-class technology with world-leading standards to work closely with the UAE and US governments to create safe, trustworthy, and responsible artificial intelligence.”

It is reportedThis commercial cooperation was supported by guarantees from the two governments through the adoption of the first such agreement.

The companies will continue to commit to complying with US and international trade, safety, responsible artificial intelligence, and business integrity laws and regulations. Work on these topics is governed by the detailed Intergovernmental Assurance Agreement (IGAA) between G42 and Microsoft, which was developed in close consultation with the UAE and US governments.

Peng Xiao, CEO of G42 Group, said that through Microsoft's strategic investment, the company is advancing its mission to provide cutting-edge artificial intelligence technology on a large scale.

“This collaboration combines G42's unique AI capabilities with Microsoft's strong global infrastructure, significantly enhancing our influence in international markets. Together, we have not only expanded our operational horizons, but also set new industry standards for innovation.”