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.”
Amal likes watching Japanese animation movies and Manga - her favourite is The Ancient Magus Bride
She is the eldest of 11 children, and has four brothers and six sisters.
Her dream is to meet with all of her friends online from around the world who supported her work throughout the years
Her favourite meal is pizza and stuffed vine leaves
She ams to improve her English and learn Japanese, which many animated programmes originate in
Wenger's Arsenal reign in numbers
1,228 - games at the helm, ahead of Sunday's Premier League fixture against West Ham United.
704 - wins to date as Arsenal manager.
3 - Premier League title wins, the last during an unbeaten Invincibles campaign of 2003/04.
1,549 - goals scored in Premier League matches by Wenger's teams.
10 - major trophies won.
473 - Premier League victories.
7 - FA Cup triumphs, with three of those having come the last four seasons.
151 - Premier League losses.
21 - full seasons in charge.
49 - games unbeaten in the Premier League from May 2003 to October 2004.
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
The Africa Institute 101
Housed on the same site as the original Africa Hall, which first hosted an Arab-African Symposium in 1976, the newly renovated building will be home to a think tank and postgraduate studies hub (it will offer master’s and PhD programmes). The centre will focus on both the historical and contemporary links between Africa and the Gulf, and will serve as a meeting place for conferences, symposia, lectures, film screenings, plays, musical performances and more. In fact, today it is hosting a symposium – 5-plus-1: Rethinking Abstraction that will look at the six decades of Frank Bowling’s career, as well as those of his contemporaries that invested social, cultural and personal meaning into abstraction.
PFA Team of the Year: David de Gea, Kyle Walker, Jan Vertonghen, Nicolas Otamendi, Marcos Alonso, David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, Christian Eriksen, Harry Kane, Mohamed Salah, Sergio Aguero
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
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Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
Company name:Farmin
Date started: March 2019
Founder: Dr Ali Al Hammadi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector:AgriTech
Initial investment: None to date
Partners/Incubators: UAE Space Agency/Krypto Labs
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
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Transmission: 10-speed auto
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On sale: Now
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In Full Flight: A Story of Africa and Atonement
John Heminway, Knopff
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area. Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife. Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple. The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items. According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”. He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale. Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
'C'mon C'mon'
Director:Mike Mills
Stars:Joaquin Phoenix, Gaby Hoffmann, Woody Norman
