Microsoft’s UAE deal could transfer key U.S. chips and AI technology abroad

23/5/2024 12:26

        Microsoft President Brad Smith said the tech company's high profile deal with the United Arab Emirates-backed AI firm G42 could eventually involve the transfer of sophisticated chips and tools - a move that a senior Republican congressman warned could have national security implications.
        
        In an interview with Reuters this week, Smith said the sales accord, many details of which are being reported here for the first time, could progress to a second phase that entails the export of crucial components of AI technology such as model weights, a crown jewel of AI systems that determine how powerful they are. Smith said there is no firm timeline for the second phase.
        
        U.S. officials have said that AI systems could pose national security risks, for example by making it easier to engineer chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.
        
        The Biden administration in October required the makers of the largest AI systems to share details about them with the U.S. government.
        
        To move forward, the deal would require the approval of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Microsoft executives said the agreement has safeguards to protect Microsoft's technology and prevent it from being used by Chinese entities to train AI systems.
        
        But those measures have not been made public, and some U.S. lawmakers question whether they are adequate.
        
        The closed-door nature of the negotiations between two private companies over the terms and safeguards on transfers of U.S. technology have alarmed some lawmakers.