Based in the UAE, G42, an artificial intelligence company, is expected to receive an investment of $1.5 billion from Microsoft.

Under the deal, G42 is believed to use Microsoft’s cloud services, while setting up a security arrangement which it had worked out in-depth with the US government.

Additionally, the AI firm is said to market Microsoft’s services that function on the capabilities of its AI hardware.

It is observed that G42 withdrew its investments from China, during the US’ concerns about its ties with Chinese companies, and began to focus heavily on removing Chinese hardware.

The latest investment comes in a slew of partnerships for Microsoft and is indicative of the UAE’s growing position in the AI domain.

On Microsoft’s part, President Brad Smith is expected to take over the duties as a member of the G42 board, in which the two firms will pour $ 1 billion fund specifically for AI developers.

The two companies are also planning to enable equitable access to services to address vital governmental and business concerns while keeping the highest security and privacy standards in place. This is said to be due no sooner than the two firms work on bringing cutting-edge AI and digital infrastructure to countries in the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa.

Further, the deal removes Chinese equipment from the Emirati company’s operations and is expected to include a slew of security measures to the AI products shared with G42.

The G42 deal takes the center stage, but on the other hand, a US-based firm also grabbed attention for its connections to generative AI.

Also, Rivos, a microprocessor firm situated in Santa Clara, California, raised about $250 million in a Series A-3 fundraising led by Matrix Capital Management. The business creates power-efficient chips with generative AI and data analytics as its primary markets.

Naturally, there has been a rise in interest recently in chip startups. Towards the end of the previous month, Thomas Tull's US Innovative Technology Fund led a $175 million Series C financing round for optical connectivity firm Celestial AI.