US lawmaker calls for probe of UAE tech firm over China ties

WASHINGTON, Jan 10 (AFP): A key US lawmaker has called on Washington to mull trade curbs on Emirati artificial intelligence firm Group 42 Holdings (G42) over its ties with China, according to a letter released Tuesday.
Mike Gallagher, the Republican chair of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, raised concerns over the firm's business links with Chinese military companies, state-owned entities and intelligence services.
"G42 maintains active relationships with blacklisted entities including Huawei and Beijing Genomics Institute," said Gallagher in a letter to the Department of Commerce dated last week.
He added that G42 chief executive Peng Xiao runs and is affiliated with "an expansive network" of Emirati and China-based companies developing dual-use technologies and which support human rights abuses.
He urged for Commerce to consider if the company, alongside 13 subsidiaries and affiliates, should be added to a trade blacklist.
Five of the firms were said to have links with Emirati cyberintelligence firm DarkMatter.
Companies added to the so-called Entity List are restricted from obtaining US items and technologies without government authorization.
US companies that have commercial ties with G42 and its subsidiaries include Microsoft, Dell and OpenAI.