Group 42 Holding Ltd, doing business asG42, is an Emirati artificial intelligence (AI) development holding company based in Abu Dhabi, founded in 2018. The organization is focused on AI development across various industries including government, healthcare, finance, oil and gas, aviation, and hospitality. Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE's national security advisor is the controlling shareholder and chairs the company. Because G42 had strong ties to China, U.S. authorities have been concerned that G42 serves as a channel through which sophisticated U.S. technology is diverted to Chinese companies or the government. As of February 2024, G42 divested its stakes in China.[2]
Corporate history
G42 was founded in 2018 and is based in Abu Dhabi, UAE.[3] The company performs AI research and development processes on big data, AI, and machine learning via its subsidiary, the Inception Institute of Artificial Intelligence (IIAI).[4] The company is chaired by the National Security Advisor of the UAE, Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who is also its controlling shareholder.[5][6] Peng Xiao is the Group CEO,[7] former head of Emirati cybersecurity company DarkMatter Group.[8]
In 2020, state-owned Mubadala Investment Company took a stake in the company, transferring ownership of two information technology companies, Injazat and Khazna to G42.[9] The next year, American private equity firm Silver Lake invested $800 million for a minority stake.[10][11]
In 2023, an investment unit, Lunate, was established under the International Holding Company. The fund was set up to manage Group 42’s China-focused 42X Fund, which has stakes in Beijing’s JD.com and ByteDance. Lunate has over 160 employees, and is overseen by Tahnoun bin Zayed. However, the establishment of a dedicated investment vehicle for China raised concerns around G42 and Peng Xiao’s commitment to the US about divesting from China.[12][13]
Portfolio companies
In January 2020, G42 announced the acquisition of Bayanat for Mapping and Surveying Services LLC, an end-to-end provider of geospatial data products and services, to complement G42's satellite-based services.[14][15]
In December 2019, Group 42 announced signing an agreement of strategic partnership with Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company (ADDH) to establish a joint venture called Adalytyx.[19]
In 2020, G42 was reported to have donated BGI Groups Chinese-made Covid testing kits to Nevada. US intelligence and security officials objected to these testing kits, raising concerns over privacy risks, in that the gene-sequencing machines of the BGI Group could misuse the patients’ DNA. As of 2020, G42 was also reportedly working with BGI on a project for collecting genetic data of UAE citizens to "generate the highest quality, most comprehensive genome data".[20][21]
In June 2020, G42 partnered with Sinopharm for clinical trials of a COVID-19 vaccine and in March 2021, they decided to produce the vaccine in Abu Dhabi.[22]
In July 2023, G42 agreed to pay around $100 million to purchase the first of potentially nine supercomputers from Cerebras to deploy its AI technology to create chatbots and analyze genomic and preventive care data. Each supercomputer is capable of 4 exaflops of computing.[25][26][27]
In October 2023, a partnership was announced with OpenAI, the AI research and deployment company responsible for ChatGPT.[22] In November 2023, G42 purchased a $100 million stake in ByteDance,[22][28] which was divested four months later as an attempt to reassure its U.S. partners.[2]
In April 2024, Microsoft announced that it will invest $1.5 billion in G42. As part of the deal, Microsoft's Brad Smith would join G42's board, and G42 said it would use the Microsoft Azure platform for its AI development and deployment.[29]
Brad Smith said the company’s deal with G42 could possibly involve transfer of tools and chips. However, the US officials warned that it could have national security implications, and raised concerns that AI systems could simplify the engineering of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. The Microsoft deal, however, required an approval from the US Department commerce to move forward. The closed-door negotiation between G42 and Microsoft over the terms and safeguards on transfer of the US technology reportedly alarmed some lawmakers.[30]
Security concerns
On November 27, 2023, The New York Times published an article titled, Warnings Emerge Over Emirati A.I. Firm G42’s Ties to China. The article highlighted the extent to which U.S. authorities have been concerned that G42 might serve as a channel through which sophisticated U.S. technology is diverted to Chinese companies or the government. Concerns were raised about the involvement of Huawei in building G42's technology infrastructure. Intelligence reports cautioned that G42's interactions with sanctioned Chinese enterprises such as BGI Group could serve as a means to transfer the genetic data of millions of Americans and other individuals to the Chinese government.[22][28] Following the report by The New York Times, Peng Xiao stated that G42 would phase out its use of Huawei equipment.[31]
