TThe head of Saudi Arabia's new investment fund for semiconductor and artificial intelligence technology says the country will pull out of China if asked to do so by the United States.
“The call so far has been to completely separate manufacturing and supply chains. But if partnering with China becomes a problem for the United States, we will divest.” said Amit Midha, CEO of the company Arat. With $100 billion in capital from the Public Investment Fund.
According to a report by Bloomberg, U.S. officials have told Saudi Arabia that it needs to choose between Chinese and American technology as it seeks to develop Saudi Arabia's semiconductor industry, and are raising concerns over various national security issues. This is taking place as part of ongoing consultations regarding the
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“We want a reliable and secure partnership in the United States,” Mida told Bloomberg News in an interview on the sidelines of the Milken Institute World Congress in California. “The United States is our number one partner and number one market for the AI, chip and semiconductor industries.”
Saudi Arabia is vying for regional leadership in advanced technology, aiming to create data centers, AI companies and semiconductor manufacturing. Its ambitions stem from concerns that countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates could serve as conduits for China to access technology that Chinese companies are prevented from buying from the United States. This comes amid increasing scrutiny of China's relations with China.
The US has already asked Abu Dhabi-based AI company G42 to divest from Chinese technology in exchange for continued access to US systems that power AI applications. The agreement paves the way for Microsoft Corp.'s $1.5 billion investment in G42.
Meanwhile, Arat plans to announce partnerships with two U.S. tech companies and co-invest with a U.S. investment firm by the end of June, Mida said. He declined to comment on which companies are involved in these negotiations or whether they are focused on AI, chips or a combination of the two.