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Tech giant Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) will invest $1.5B for a minority stake in UAE-based AI firm G42 to bring advanced AI and digital infrastructure to markets across the Middle East, Central Asia, and Africa.
Under this partnership, Brad Smith, vice chair and president of Microsoft (MSFT), will join G42's board of directors.
The companies will support the establishment of a $1B fund for developers to support the development of a skilled and diverse AI workforce and talent pool.
G42 will run its AI applications and services on Microsoft (MSFT) Azure, and provide AI solutions to major corporations and public sector clients.
The commercial partnership is backed by assurances to the U.S. and UAE governments to comply with U.S. and international trade, security, responsible AI, and business integrity laws.
The two companies first partnered in April 2023 to explore acceleration of UAE's digital transformation, later announcing that they would work together on sovereign cloud offerings and advanced AI capabilities, and the expansion of UAE's existing data center infrastructure.