UAE and France partner to foster development of global AI ecosystem

The Abu Dhabi Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Technology Council (AIATC) and the French Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty jointly signed a memorandum of understanding agreement on AI.

This agreement between AIATC and the Ministry builds on the strengths of the strategic partnership between the UAE and France and aims to develop the artificial intelligence ecosystems of both countries through a combination of investment programs and collaborations that foster the responsible development and deployment of AI.

The agreement was signed by His Excellency Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Executive Affairs Authority, member of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council and member of the Abu Dhabi Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Technology Council (AIATC), and Bruno Le Maire, French Minister of Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty.

The partnership will cover various areas of collaboration, including the establishment of a data center and supercomputing infrastructure buildout. This initiative will make cost-competitive AI training and inferencing capacity available to both French and European enterprises as well as foster partnerships with international and local cloud and computing capacity operators in order to enable innovation and R&D.

The UAE and France will explore investment opportunities in start-ups and investment funds focused on AI models, artificial intelligence applications in key sectors (health, financial services, software, retail, industry), and next-generation hardware.

The partnership will explore opportunities for the bilateral production and offtake of semiconductors, including leading-edge and essential chips for AI applications.

The two countries will explore an education initiative aimed at offering best in class AI training in both countries to nurture and develop talent across the UAE and French AI ecosystems.