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Abu Dhabi Artificial Intelligence Group G42 is expected to expand in the US as the oil-rich Gulf nation will invest tens of thousands of dollars in the country and establish itself as a global leader in emerging technologies.
The AI company recently established a US company as part of a move to increase its domestic presence, according to a company’s application.
The AI group, backed by Abu Dhabi’s sovereign investor Mubadara, confirmed with the Financial Times that it “has been committed to expanding the US market and has established a legitimate entity for its strategy.”
Those familiar with the issue added that some of the G42 subsidiaries, including AI applications, cloud computing and data center companies, are expected to announce their US business plans in the coming months.
Expansion occurs as the UAE is making a big bet on AI, and its technology is at the heart of its economic diversification programme and the centrality of its laws. This has led to even greater investments driving US investments as part of a drive to deepen collaborations around powerful technology.
The G42 is chaired by Sheikh Tanoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a powerful national security adviser for the United Arab Emirates.
People said the greater the US presence, the more helps Abu Dhabi companies complete these investments.
Sheikh Tanoon met with President Donald Trump at the White House in March on a trip aimed at strengthening bilateral cooperation. After the visit, the White House said the UAE had committed to a 1.4 tonne, 10-year “investment framework” in the US, overturning $600 million that it had pledged to be invested over four years by regional rival Saudi Arabia.
The application shows that a company called G42 USA was established in Delaware in January. Core42, a subsidiary of Cloud and Enterprise, has already opened a company in the US and has announced plans to launch services domestically.
The G42 was to invest $335 million in US chipmaker Celebras last year. This is a transaction cleared last month by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIU) Committee, but only allowed to purchase non-voting shares.
The Abu Dhabi Group’s move to accelerate expansion under the Trump administration comes after Peng Xiao, the Chinese-born CEO of the G42, who has become a UAE citizen, tried to cut ties with Chinese hardware suppliers, including Huawei, following scrutiny by US lawmakers.
Last year, Microsoft invested $1.5 billion for minority stakes in the G42. There are also other US investors, including Raydario’s family office and private equity company Silver Lake.
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Details of the expansion of the G42 in the US remain unclear. Group data center company Khazna told FT there is no plans to start work in the US any time soon.
“We are currently focusing on opportunities across APAC and other priority regions, but we are closely observing development through the expansion of the G42 in the US, aiming to support and grow alongside that initiative when that time is right.”
In President Donald Trump’s tariff blitz, UAE officials were keen to highlight the long-term desire of the Gulf state to bet on the US and the surplus of favorable trade with the US.
“The UAE investment institution has probably been one of the biggest foreign direct investors into the US economy for the past 20 years,” Mbadara CEO Khaldoon Al Mubarak said at a meeting in Washington last month.
Additional Reports by Tim Bradshaw of London and George Hammond of San Francisco
