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Our reporter Zhao Jueyun

In recent years, the United States has been stepping up its efforts to "encircle" China's artificial intelligence (AI) industry from many aspects, but this act of forced interference has been "rejected" by the UAE. According to Reuters on the 30th, the U.S. House of Representatives' "Special Committee on China" was seeking to meet with G42, an Emirati AI company that recently received investment from American companies, but failed to meet due to the "personal intervention" of the UAE ambassador to the United States.

Reuters quoted a U.S. congressional spokesperson as saying that the meeting between congressional staff and G42 originally scheduled for this month has been canceled. A spokesperson for the Special Committee on China said: "Given the UAE's refusal to discuss relevant issues face-to-face with congressional staff, the committee has more concerns about the G42's deal with Microsoft. Therefore, it is expected that Congress will be more involved in supervising the relevant negotiations."

In April, Microsoft announced it would invest $1.5 billion in G42, according to the website of the US magazine Forbes, which described G42 as an "AI giant" and an "important part" of the UAE's bid to become a global leader in the field.

According to a previous report by The Washington Post, G42 has caused "uneasiness" in the US government and has been scrutinized by the US Congress because of its "cooperation with Chinese companies" and "close ties with China." Reuters said that some US lawmakers are worried that sensitive technology may be transferred to G42, an Emirati company with "close ties" to China, and the cancellation of this month's meeting may indicate that China hardliners in the US Congress may increase their scrutiny.

A spokesman for the UAE Embassy in the United States told Reuters that the meeting "clearly had miscommunication issues" and that the embassy was "not informed of the existence of the team until shortly before the delegation was due to arrive." The spokesman also said that U.S. congressional staff hoped to meet during a regional visit from the 16th to the 19th of this month to discuss the transfer of advanced chips from companies such as Nvidia to the UAE and Saudi Arabia and the U.S.-China technological competition.

Wen Shaobiao, assistant researcher at the Institute of Middle East Studies of Shanghai International Studies University, told the Global Times on the 30th that the United States is taking comprehensive precautions against China in the field of AI, and Washington hopes to win over allies to curb the development of related technologies and industries in China. In recent years, China's cooperation with Gulf countries such as the UAE has expanded to high-tech industries such as AI, which has also attracted the attention of the United States.

According to foreign media reports, the Biden administration last year implemented comprehensive new restrictions on the export of artificial intelligence chips, attempting to cut off more channels for China to obtain these chips and add licensing requirements for chips shipped to the UAE and other Middle Eastern countries.

Wen Shaobiao believes that the United States is unlikely to succeed in interfering in the scientific and technological cooperation between China and the UAE through political means. On the one hand, China and the UAE have strong complementarity in the field of AI, and the relevant cooperation has internal driving force. The UAE will not be willing to let its own strategic interests be damaged; on the other hand, the UAE does not want to become a "chess piece" in the game between China and the United States, and hopes to maintain a certain degree of strategic autonomy. ▲