TThe head of Saudi Arabia’s new investment fund for semiconductor technology and artificial intelligence said the country would divest from China if asked by the US.
“So far, the calls have been to keep production and supply chains completely separate, but if partnerships with China become a problem for the US, we will divest,” said Amit Midha, CEO of Alat, a investments supported by US$100 billion in capital from the Public Investment Fund.
US officials have told their Saudi Arabian counterparts that they need to choose between Chinese and American technology as they aim to develop Saudi Arabia’s semiconductor industry, Bloomberg reported, as part of ongoing negotiations on a range of national security issues.
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“We are looking for reliable and secure partnerships in the US,” Midha said in an interview with Bloomberg News on the sidelines of the Milken Institute Global Conference in California. “The US is our number one partner and number one market for the AI, chip and semiconductor industry.”
Saudi Arabia is competing for regional leadership in advanced technology, hoping to create data centers, AI companies and semiconductor manufacturing. Their ambitions come as the U.S. increasingly scrutinizes Middle East ties with China, amid concerns that countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates could serve as conduits for Beijing to access technology that companies Chinese companies are prevented from buying from the USA.
The US has already asked Abu Dhabi-based AI firm G42 to divest Chinese technology in exchange for continued access to US systems that power AI applications. This agreement paved the way for a $1.5 billion investment from Microsoft Corp. on the G42.
Meanwhile, Alat will announce partnerships with two US technology companies by the end of June and will co-invest alongside a US investment firm, Midha said. He declined to comment on which companies are involved in these talks or whether they are focused on AI, chips or a combination of the two.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
