Saudi-China collaboration raises concerns about access to AI chips

Saudi-Chinese collaboration in artificial intelligence has stirred fears within the Gulf kingdom’s premier academic institution that the ties could jeopardise the university’s access to US-made chips needed to power the new technology.  Professor Jinchao Xu, an American-Chinese mathematician at Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (Kaust), has launched AceGPT, an Arabic-focused large language model, in collaboration with the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CUHK-SZ), and the Shenzhen Research Institute of Big Data. The move is part of Saudi Arabia’s efforts to lead the regional development of AI technology, building large supercomputers and rolling out LLMs, the technology that underpins generative AI systems such as chatbots. Along with the United Arab Emirates, the Gulf powerhouse is seeking to compete with AI companies and create bespoke models for Arabic speakers.  Western officials have long expressed concerns about growing technology transfer between their traditional allies in the Gulf and China. The US has expanded export licence requirements for graphics processing units made by Nvidia and AMD, preventing Chinese entities from accessing the cutting-edge chips that are vital in building generative AI models. But the Biden administration has stopped short of blocking exports to the Middle East. However, people at Kaust seeking to obtain these chips nonetheless believe that limiting Chinese co-operation is vital to secure delivery. AI has become one of the regional battlegrounds of China-US competition in the Gulf, where Riyadh and Abu Dhabi are determined to build on flourishing trade relations to include technology transfer while also sustaining ties with Washington, their main security partner.

Full report : Some academics in Saudi Arabia worry over Saudi-Chinese AI collaboration, which may jeopardize their access to US chips, as the Gulf states rush to build LLMs.