The UAE is ready to 'fast track' its AI partnership with the US after the debut of US President Donald Trump's AI Action Plan. Antonie Robertson / The National
The UAE is ready to 'fast track' its AI partnership with the US after the debut of US President Donald Trump's AI Action Plan. Antonie Robertson / The National
The UAE is ready to 'fast track' its AI partnership with the US after the debut of US President Donald Trump's AI Action Plan. Antonie Robertson / The National
After this week's debut of the White House's Artificial Intelligence Action Plan, the UAE is ready to expedite its AI partnership with the US.
This follows President Donald Trump's visit to Abu Dhabi in May, when he announced the US-UAE AI Acceleration Partnership, which included plans for a 5GW UAE-US AI Campus.
Those plans allow for the UAE to obtain powerful CPUs and GPUs from the US which are necessary to build up AI infrastructure.
After months of intense talks, unveiled plans for a 5GW UAE-US AI Campus in Abu Dhabi give reason for ample optimism for the UAE's AI ambitions. Photo: G42
Once completed, part of the campus, dubbed Stargate UAE, will be among the largest AI data centres in the world.
Security guarantees to protect the UAE AI technology from falling into the wrong hands were are major aspect of the deal.
Also bolstering the deal, Mr Trump's much-anticipated AI plan, unveiled on Wednesday, seeks to reduce regulatory barriers in place to build up AI infrastructure in the US, while pushing for increasing the prevalence of US AI technology around the world.
That bodes well for the UAE, and other countries with similar AI aspirations.
It's also a sharp contrast to the former president Joe Biden's policies. His administration sought tighter export controls on US chips to prevent them from being used in China.
The UAE's ambassador to the US has commended the AI Action Plan unveiled by the Trump White House.
“The UAE welcomes President Trump's AI Action Plan and is ready to fast track our strategic AI partnership with the US,” Yousef Al Otaiba, UAE Minister of State and ambassador to the US, said on Wednesday.
“As a trusted partner, we are working closely with leading US companies to adopt and scale American technology in the UAE and beyond.”
Some pundits aren't sold however, and they're trying to exert influence to slow the US-UAE AI Acceleration Partnership.
In an opinion article in The Washington Post, Christopher Chivvis and Sam Winter-Levy from the Carnegie Endowment, a US-based think tank, expressed concern about China somehow getting access to the US AI technology, among other things.
“To now approve the offshoring of the data centres that will house so many of the resulting chips to another conflict-prone region would be a major unforced error – one that will prove difficult to reverse,” they wrote.
The UAE has addressed this by committing to a $1.4 trillion investment framework for AI infrastructure in the US.
Regardless, the Wall Street Journal also reported that some in the White House have sought to take a closer look at the recently announced UAE deal, amid concerns about US technology diffusion.
A group photo from the launch of Stargate UAE. Attending were President Sheikh Mohamed, Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and chairman of Abu Dhabi Executive Council, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, Deputy Ruler of Abu Dhabi and National Security Adviser, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, chief executive and managing director of Mubadala Investment Company, and leading representatives. Photo: G42
But last week, the White House cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence adviser beat back those concerns, and reaffirmed the US partnership with the UAE.
“These are countries that are long-standing partners and allies of the US going back many years,” White House AI chief David Sacks said during a round-table discussion at the Pennsylvania Energy and AI Summit, referring to the UAE.
Mr Sacks added that the Trump administration thought that if US technology wasn't used in AI projects around the world, China-owned Huawei would step in to fill the vacuum.
“We don't want to create demand for Huawei,” he explained, also describing some of the chip smuggling scenarios that have become prevalent in media reports as quixotic.
He said the newest standard data centres technology hardware is approximately 2.4m tall, with servers weighing 1,600kg, and that it's “very easy to see” if they're being transported.
“I know that our Gulf State partners would honour our security agreement,” he said just hours before President Trump appeared at the event in Pennsylvania.
“This is ultimately a trust-but-verify situation, and all we have to do is send an inspector to a data centre and they can count the racks,” Mr Sacks explained, reiterating that he felt the scenarios of AI hardware smuggling were “blown wildly out of proportion.”
Meanwhile, there's no indication from the White House or Department of Commerce, which is ultimately responsible for allowing the export of US technology, that criticism of the UAE deal is gaining traction.
In a statement to The National, the UAE ambassador expressed continued optimism about the AI plans with the US announced back in May.
“Signed just 60 days ago in Abu Dhabi, the UAE-US investment and Ai partnership will deliver enormous benefits to both countries,” Mr Al Otaiba said.
“High level teams have been actively engaging to advance the agreement, to get chips moving and to accelerate technology co-operation.”
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
How to apply for a drone permit
Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
Submit their request
What are the regulations?
Fly it within visual line of sight
Never over populated areas
Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
