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☆ Microsoft invests $1.5 billion in AI firm G42 which faces U.S. scrutiny for China ties
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-16 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

G42 will run its AI applications and services on the Microsoft Azure cloud service, as well as deploy Microsoft's cloud offerings. The U.S. and UAE governments appeared to be heavily involved in the deal. "Both companies will move forward with a commitment to comply with U.S. and international trade, security, responsible AI, and business integrity laws and regulations," Microsoft said. Gallagher alleges that G42 maintains relationship with blacklisted Chinese firms, such as Huawei, and that it works with China's military and intelligence services. G42 itself has reportedly invested in Chinese firms, including TikTok owner ByteDance.

Persons: Brad Smith, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahya, Mike Gallagher, Gallagher, ByteDance Organizations: Microsoft, United Arab, U.S, UAE, U.S ., Chinese Communist Party, Commerce Department, Huawei Locations: Bellevue , Washington, United Arab Emirates, U.S, UAE, China

President of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan attends the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, December 1, 2023. REUTERS/Amr Alfiky Acquire Licensing RightsDUBAI, Dec 1 (Reuters) - United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, whose country is hosting the COP28 climate summit, announced on Friday the establishment of a $30 billion climate fund that aims to attract $250 billion of investment by the end of the decade. Dubbed ALTÉRRA, the fund will allocate $25 billion towards climate strategies and $5 billion specifically to incentivise investment flows into the Global South, according to a statement by the COP28 Presidency. ALTÉRRA has also committed to invest $2 billion into its second Brookfield Global Transition Fund. ALTÉRRA was established by Lunate, a newly set up Abu Dhabi-based alternative investment manager with over $50 billion in assets.

Persons: United Arab Emirates Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Amr Alfiky, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, ALTÉRRA, BlackRock, Abu, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, William James, Nadine Awadalla, Al Sayegh, Tommy Reggiori Wilkes, Susan Fenton, Sharon Singleton, Miral Organizations: United, United Nations, Change, United Arab Emirates, REUTERS, Rights, BlackRock, TPG, Brookfield Asset Management, Transition, Lunate, Chimera Investment, Reuters, Thomson Locations: United Arab Emirates, Dubai, United Arab, COP28, Brookfield, Abu Dhabi, UAE

In public, the company has announced its staggering growth with a steady cadence of news releases. But in classified American intelligence channels, there have been more concerning reports about the company. and other American spy agencies have issued warnings about G42’s work with large Chinese companies that U.S. officials consider security threats, including Huawei, the telecommunications giant that is under U.S. sanctions. U.S. officials fear G42 could be a conduit by which advanced American technology is siphoned to Chinese companies or the government. The intelligence reports have also warned that G42’s dealings with Chinese firms could be a pipeline to get the genetic data of millions of Americans and others into the hands of the Chinese government, according to two officials familiar with the reports.

Persons: Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, Jake Sullivan Organizations: United Arab, White House, AstraZeneca, OpenAI, Huawei Locations: United Arab Emirates, China, Silicon, U.S

☆ Abu Dhabi's ADNOC, AI firm G42 plan IPO of technology joint venture AIQ -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( Hadeel Al Sayegh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DUBAI, June 22 (Reuters) - Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Abu Dhabi artificial intelligence company G42 are having early discussions about a possible flotation of their joint venture technology firm AIQ, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. AIQ, which is 60% owned by ADNOC and 40% by G42, uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to optimise processes, improve planning and increase profitability for ADNOC and the wider oil and gas industry. AIQ recently hired veteran investment banker Youssef Salem as chief financial officer, the sources said. G42, which is backed by Abu Dhabi state fund Mubadala Investment Co, AIQ and Salem did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It listed its gas business in March after raising $2.5 billion from the IPO, which was the world's biggest in the first quarter.

Persons: AIQ, Youssef Salem, Salem, Abu, OpenAI, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, Nahyan, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, ADNOC, Hadeel Al Sayegh, Stephen Coates Organizations: Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, Reuters, ADNOC, Moelis, Mubadala Investment, U.S, Microsoft Corp, Thomson Locations: DUBAI, Abu Dhabi, U.S, Salem

☆ Top Biden aide discusses Yemen peace efforts with Saudi crown prince
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, May 7 (Reuters) - U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during a visit to the kingdom on Sunday and reviewed what the White House called "significant progress" in Yemen peace efforts, the White House said. Sullivan, President Joe Biden's top White House national security aide, also thanked the crown prince for Saudi support to U.S. citizens during evacuation from Sudan, the statement added. U.S. special envoy Tim Lenderking travelled to Oman and Saudi Arabia earlier this month to seek to advance Yemen peace efforts, the State Department said. A Saudi-led military coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015 after the Iran-aligned Houthis ousted the government from the capital Sanaa. But the White House statement made no mention of Israel.

☆ Etihad Airways signs deal to allow bookings using AI within chat app BOTIM
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DUBAI, May 2 (Reuters) - Etihad Airways, Abu Dhabi's state carrier, on Tuesday signed an agreement with technology firm Astra Tech that allows customers to make flight bookings using artificial intelligence within chat app BOTIM, Astra Tech said. Astra Tech has said its GPT is the first that works in the Arabic language. "Through the BOTIM GPT module developed by Astra Tech, flights and other travel-related services are integrated into the Botim app, offering a convenient and innovative way for customers to book Etihad flights," Astra Tech said. Astra Tech bought BOTIM last year for an undisclosed sum from about 12 investors, Astra Tech founder and BOTIM CEO Abdallah Abu Sheikh told Reuters last month. BOTIM is one of the top three digital remittance providers in the UAE, one of the other services the app provides, Sheikh said.

☆ Abu Dhabi's Presight AI soars on market debut
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DUBAI, March 27 (Reuters) - Shares in Abu Dhabi big data analytics company Presight AI climbed as much as 176% on their stock market debut after raising 1.82 billion dirhams ($495.6 million) in an initial public offering (IPO) for almost a third of the business. Presight's shares rose as high as 3.70 dirhams on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange before retreating a little to 3.40 dirhams. The company is majority owned by G42, controlled by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al-Nahyan. Sheikh Tahnoon is the UAE's national security adviser and has acted as a foreign policy troubleshooter for his brother, President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan. He was also recently named chair of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, the emirate's largest sovereign wealth fund, and was already chair of smaller wealth fund ADQ.

☆ Abu Dhabi's G42 buys ByteDance stake at $220 billion valuation, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Abu Dhabi-based artificial intelligence firm G42 acquired a $100 million plus stake in ByteDance, valuing the Chinese unlisted owner of TikTok at $220 billion, Bloomberg News reported late on Tuesday, citing people with knowledge of the deal. G42, controlled by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al-Nahyan, who is also the UAE's national security adviser, acquired the stake from existing investors in recent months through its 42XFund, the report said, adding that another fund also bought into ByteDance at a $225 billion shortly after. The company's $220 billion valuation is a considerable discount to the $300 billion valuation set during a share buyback program last year, down from the valuations of between $300 billion and $400 billion it received in the secondary market in 2021. Both 42XFund and ByteDance did not immediately repsond to Reuters' requests for comment. Bloomberg had earlier in the day reported that TikTok, ByteDance's short-form video app, is considering separating from its parent to help address U.S. concerns about national security risks, as it has come under increasing fire over fears that user data could end up in the hands of the Chinese government, undermining Western security interests.

☆ Gautam Adani’s woes were in banks' plain sight
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Una Galani | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

MUMBAI, Feb 8 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Gautam Adani’s recent woes have vindicated persistent doubts in India about the tycoon’s rise. The Indian group dismisses those claims as a “malicious combination of selective misinformation and stale, baseless and discredited allegations”. By contrast, other big Indian groups like Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries (DBKGn.DE) and those carrying the Tata name are more popular with institutional investors. Fee-hungry international banks were much less picky. Deutsche, Barclays and StanChart pocketed $57 million of the $260 million of investment banking revenue generated by the Adani group since Dealogic records began.

☆ UAE president visits Qatar in sign of warming ties
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DOHA, Dec 5 (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates (UAE) president arrived in Qatar on Monday on the first such visit since Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies ended a boycott of Doha nearly two years ago. Qatar is currently hosting soccer's World Cup,The visit "is another step towards strengthening Gulf solidarity and joint action," Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, said on Twitter. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt early last year ended a 3-1/2 year embargo of Qatar, but ties between Doha and Abu Dhabi have not warmed at the same pace as those with Riyadh and Cairo, which re-established diplomatic ties with Doha. UAE National Security Adviser Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al-Nahyan visited Doha twice as part of Abu Dhabi's push to manage regional differences. Abu Dhabi, like Manama, has not appointed an envoy to Doha, but restored travel and trade links between the UAE and Qatar.

This has led to two IHC subsidiaries rounding out the three biggest companies on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX). ITH was expected to turn over half a billion dirhams ($136 million) and have $1 billion in assets by the second quarter, Shueb said. Pure Health, under Alpha Dhabi, aims to raise more than $1 billion in a first-quarter IPO delayed from this year. Its merger with state-owned Abu Dhabi Health Services (SEHA), which Shueb said has almost 24,000 employees, is taking longer than expected, delaying the IPO. IHC, which completed four IPOs this year and plans a similar number in 2023, has yet to appoint banks for the Pure Health IPO, Shueb said, adding it is considering a possible 2023 IPO of International Energy Holding.

A helicopter flies over the downtown skyline, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, as seen from the Cleveland Clinic hospital in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, April 20, 2020. ADQ, the smallest of Abu Dhabi's three main sovereign wealth funds, began in 2018 as a vehicle for holding state assets. ADQ and the UAE foreign ministry did not respond to emailed requests for comment. Among recent deals, ADQ launched a $300 million technology fund in March with Turkey's sovereign wealth fund to invest in venture capital funds and opportunities inside Turkey. "They are the ones that promote UAE economic diplomacy, its regional and global influence," he said.

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