Trevor Hunnicutt
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Microsoft’s deal to invest $1.5 billion in artificial intelligence company G42 is an “overall positive development” as it forced the United Arab Emirates-based company to sever ties with China’s Huawei, a White House official said on Monday.
“For example, in a place like the UAE… where G42 worked very closely with Huawei, we are interested in changing that picture,” White House technology adviser Tarun Chhabra said.
“Trying to work with Microsoft (NASDAQ:) as an alternative to Huawei is overall a positive development and we want to encourage it,” Chhabra said at an event in Washington, D.C., organized by the Council on Foreign Relations think tank.
Washington has for years tried to persuade allies to cut off telecom equipment giant Huawei from their networks, fearing the Chinese company could spy on customers and feed information to Beijing. The Middle East has also begun to play a more prominent role in the technology war between the United States and China.
As part of the deal announced in April, G42 will use Microsoft cloud services to run its artificial intelligence applications, and both companies have provided security guarantees to the US and UAE governments.
The New York Times reported that the agreement includes a number of protections for artificial intelligence products shared with the G42, including an agreement to exclude Chinese equipment, including that of Huawei, from the Emirati firm’s operations.