OpenAI, the developer of the popular AI chatbot ChatGPT, has announced a new partnership with G42. a technology holding group based in Dubai, with the aim of expanding AI capabilities in the Middle East. Together, the two companies plan to harness OpenAI's generative AI models across G42's domains of expertise, including financial services, energy, healthcare, and public services.
G42 intends to offer organizations in the UAE and beyond more streamlined processes for integrating advanced AI capabilities into their existing operations. They will prioritize their robust AI infrastructure to support OpenAI for local and regional inference using Microsoft Azure data centers.
Sam Altman, the co-founder and CEO of OpenAI, mentioned that G42's industry connections can help bring AI solutions that align with the region's unique requirements. He believes that this collaboration will contribute to the global advancement of generative artificial intelligence.
Notably, Saudi Arabia recently announced a partnership between a local university and a Chinese university to develop an AI system based on Arabic. This project, called AceGPT, utilizes Meta's Llama 2 and serves as an AI assistant designed to answer questions in Arabic.
These developments come amid growing concerns among US regulators regarding the export of AI semiconductor chips, particularly to the Middle East. While the US initially imposed restrictions on exporting advanced semiconductor chips to the Middle East, they later denied blocking these exports. However, in a With recent expansion of export controls for AI semiconductor chips, the US has broadened the list of countries requiring licenses for advanced chip exports to include "all 22 countries subject to US arms embargoes," which includes several Middle Eastern nations like Iraq, Iran, and Lebanon.
