Abu Dhabi’s G42 Considers US Ownership to Safeguard AI Chip Access

G42, the Abu Dhabi artificial intelligence firm at the center of the United Arab Emirates’ AI push, has discussed handing majority control to American companies in order to keep buying the most advanced chips next year, including Nvidia’s most advanced H100 chips, Bloomberg reported Friday. Options discussed include selling a majority stake or creating a new entity in the US, the report said. G42 did not respond for a request to comment at this time.

G42 was recently allowed to buy cutting-edge chips without a US license until around April 2027 but needs to change its corporate structure for continued access, according to the report. It already counts Microsoft and Silver Lake as investors.

The company has spent years trying to get out from under US suspicion over its China ties. After U.S. intelligence agencies warned in late 2023 that its work with Huawei could make it a conduit for American technology reaching Beijing, G42 sold its stake in 42X, a $10 billion fund that had backed ByteDance. In December it said it would cut ties with Chinese hardware suppliers, including Huawei, to ensure it continued to have access to chips produced by US companies. In April 2024 it accepted a $1.5 billion Microsoft investment that put Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president on its board and moved its workload to Azure.

The scrutiny hit partners too: Cerebras disclosed in October 2024 that a government review of G42’s stake had delayed its IPO, and the chipmaker didn’t go public until 2026.