Security News > 2024 > July > White House urged to double check Microsoft isn't funneling AI to China via G42 deal

Two House committee chairs have sent a public letter to the White House asking it to look into a deal between AI R&D outfit G42 and Microsoft.

The missive [PDF] to National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan is authored by Reps Michael McCaul and John Moolenaar, respectively the chairs of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Committee on Strategic Competition with the Chinese Communist Party.

The two Republicans warn the Microsoft deal raises the risk of advanced American AI technology making its way to China via G42. "This deal may be one of the most consequential investments by a US technology firm in the Middle East in decades," the letter reads.

Both G42 and Microsoft have taken steps to convince the American authorities that everything is above board with their machine-learning partnership, and G42 says it has cut ties with China.

Microsoft president Brad Smith said G42 wouldn't be getting unfettered access to AI tech, saying processors and model customization tools to be used by the UAE lab would be located in a "Vault within a vault."

The Register asked Microsoft for comment on the letter, and Redmond said it's "Working closely with the NSC and Department of Commerce, and US national security will continue to be a principal priority." We also asked G42 for comment.

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https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/07/12/g42_uae_us_house/