Microsoft announced on Tuesday a $1.5 billion strategic investment in G42, the UAE-based artificial intelligence (AI) technology holding company, bringing in the latest Microsoft AI technologies and skilling initiatives to the UAE and other countries around the world.

As part of this expanded partnership Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President of Microsoft, will join the G42 Board of Directors, the companies said in a statement. 

“Our two companies will work together not only in the UAE but to bring AI and digital infrastructure and services to underserved nations,” Smith said in a statement.

This collaboration aims to bolster organisations of all sizes in new markets to use AI and the cloud while ensuring they are adopting AI that adheres to world-leading standards in safety and security, Microsoft said. 

“Both Microsoft and G42 share the belief that technology can be a powerful force for growing economies and creating opportunities, provided that it is developed and deployed in a responsible and principled way,” the tech giant said in a post on LinkedIn.

G42 will run its AI applications and services on Microsoft Azure and partner to deliver advanced AI solutions to global public sector clients and large enterprises. 

Additionally, G42 and Microsoft are collaborating to introduce advanced AI and digital infrastructure across the Middle East, Central Asia, and Africa. 

This initiative, they explain, aims to provide these regions with fair access to services that tackle crucial governmental and business challenges, all while upholding stringent standards of security and privacy.

This is not the first collaboration between both companies, in April 2023 they have previously announced a joint initiative to develop AI solutions tailored for the public sector. In September 2023, they agreed to introduce sovereign cloud offerings. As of  November 2023, Microsoft announced the availability of G42’s Jais Arabic Large Language Model on the new Azure AI Cloud Model-as-a-Service offering.

Through this new partnership, Microsoft and G42 will work closely and elevate the security and compliance framework of their joint international infrastructure. 

They explained further that they intend to move forward with a commitment to comply with US and international trade, security, responsible AI, and business integrity laws and regulations.