Microsoft, G42 Launch New AI Centers in Abu Dhabi

Microsoft Corp. and G42 have announced two new initiatives to advance responsible artificial intelligence (AI) practices, building on their partnership established earlier this year. The initiatives include creating two new centers in Abu Dhabi that aim to promote responsible AI use and support societal goals.

The first center, co-founded by G42 and Microsoft with endorsement from the UAE's Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Technology Council (AIATC), will focus on developing best practices and industry standards for responsible AI. This center will bring together academic researchers and industry practitioners from the Middle East and the Global South to share and advance responsible AI methodologies.

The second initiative involves the expansion of Microsoft’s AI for Good Research Lab to Abu Dhabi. This lab, Microsoft’s first in the Middle East, will collaborate with nonprofit organizations and partners to tackle economic and societal challenges. It will work on projects related to large language models for underrepresented languages, food security, and climate resilience, leveraging AI to enhance disaster preparedness and response.

These efforts align with Microsoft and G42's commitment to responsible AI standards, including ensuring the safe development and deployment of AI technologies. Both companies have implemented policies governing AI design and use, cybersecurity, and “red teaming” processes to test and strengthen AI systems.

The partnership also supports the UAE's position as a global AI hub and includes compliance with international regulations. This includes G42's adherence to US compliance standards and its public cloud infrastructure migration to Microsoft Azure, which began in November 2023.

Together, Microsoft and G42 aim to bridge the digital divide, address social challenges, and advance AI technology globally, reflecting their shared commitment to trust, security, and regulatory compliance.

This year, Microsoft unveiled a $1.5 billion investment in the UAE-based AI firm G42 to elevate the UAE's status as an AI hub.

Through this collaboration, Microsoft and G42 aim to disseminate the advantages of secure AI technologies and cloud capabilities to burgeoning economies globally.

Recently, G42, a UAE-based technology group, announced the upcoming launch of NANDA, a Hindi Large Language Model (LLM), at the UAE-India Business Forum in Mumbai. NANDA, a 13-billion parameter model, has been trained on approximately 2.13 trillion tokens, including Hindi language datasets.

Last month, G42's Inception launched JAIS 70B, a large language model (LLM) designed to enhance Arabic natural language processing (NLP). JAIS 70B, with 70 billion parameters, aims to support the adoption of generative AI services across various sectors, improving customer service, content creation, and data analysis.

In May, Core42, a G42 company specializing in full-spectrum artificial intelligence (AI) enablement, introduced JAIS Chat. 

JAIS Chat is a bilingual tool in both English and Arabic. Its design comprehends various Arabic dialects and also navigates cultural nuances.