UAE joins US-led coalition for artificial intelligence

• UAE joins Pax Silica days after Qatar
• Aims to secure infrastructure
• Ninth company to join initiative

The United Arab Emirates followed Qatar in joining Pax Silica, a month-old US-led coalition that aims to secure cross-border infrastructure and supply chains for the artificial intelligence-era.

The UAE became the ninth country to join the initiative when Emirati minister of state Saeed bin Mubarak Al Hajeri signed the Pax Silica Declaration two days after Qatar. 

The other signatories are Australia, Israel, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore and the United Kingdom, with India expected to follow suit in February, according to the US State Department.

“The UAE’s leadership in energy, investment and technological innovation make it an indispensable partner in this coalition,” the State Department said in a press release.

“Its commitment to building a world class, secure AI ecosystem demonstrates a clear vision for harnessing technology to drive economic diversification and opportunity.” 

The effort seeks to ring-fence procurement of silicon, critical minerals, energy and other vital input for the semiconductor and AI sectors from “coercive dependencies” and “single points of failure”. 

As such, the US and UAE will work together to identify “flagship projects across the global technology stack” on which to partner, the State Department said, citing areas such as data centres, 6G and mineral refining.  

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Emirati ambassador to the US in Washington, Yousef Al Otaiba, said in a statement that Pax Silica “reinforces” burgeoning technology cooperation between the UAE and the US, and further embeds the principle that AI development “must be grounded in trust and resilient global partnerships”.

“As AI reshapes economies, supply chains and societies, initiatives like Pax Silica help ensure that innovation remains open and is developed and deployed responsibly – protected by strong safeguards and guided by shared standards,” he said. 

UAE-based sovereign wealth funds such as Mubadala and ADQ, and AI-focused developers and investors like G42 and MGX are deeply engaged with a wide range of US partners, from Nvidia to OpenAI, to win the global technology race.