The United Arab Emirates has reportedly put a halt to meetings between Emirati AI firm G42 and U.S. Congressional staffers in the wake of concerns over the potential transfer of technology to China.

What Happened: The UAE Ambassador to the U.S. “personally intervened” to stop meetings between the House Select Committee on China staffers and G42, reported Reuters on Monday, citing a congressional spokesperson.

This intervention was triggered by U.S. lawmakers’ fears that G42 might transfer U.S. AI technology to China. These concerns were amplified by a $1.5 billion investment by Microsoft Corp. MSFT in G42.

The lawmakers fear that this could lead to the transfer of sensitive technology to the UAE firm, which has historical ties with China.

Subscribe to the Benzinga Tech Trends newsletter to get all the latest tech developments delivered to your inbox.

“The committee has even more concerns about the G42-Microsoft deal given the UAE’s refusal to meet with congressional staff to discuss these issues. As a result, expect Congress to get more involved in oversight of these negotiations,” stated the committee spokesperson.

Why It Matters: The cancellation of these meetings could signal diplomatic fallout from the increasing efforts by China hardliners in Congress to scrutinize the G42-Microsoft deal and control the flow of sensitive AI technology to the Middle East over fears of diversion to China.

The staffers had sought the meetings as part of a regional visit on July 16-19 to discuss the transfer of sophisticated chips from companies like Nvidia Corp. NVDA to the UAE and Saudi Arabia, as well as U.S.-China tech competition.

Image Generated With DallE_3

Check out more of Benzinga’s Consumer Tech coverage by following this link.

Read Next: 

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.