A meeting intended to allay concerns that Emirati AI firm G42's deal with Microsoft could lead to China gaining access to advanced American technology was reportedly canceled by the United Arab Emirates' ambassador to the United States.

Congressional staff from the House Select Committee on China were to travel to the United Arab Emirates and meet with officials from that nation, the G42, and Saudi Arabia, between July 16 and 19, a spokesman told The Register. The specific purpose of the meetings, we are told, was to discuss technological competition between the US and China. Also on the agenda was how the transfer of advanced AI technology from Microsoft to the G42 – and thus to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia – would be protected from China.

Those meetings never materialized, a committee spokesman informed us, because the UAE ambassador to the United States apparently intervened personally to stop them.

Part of the Emirati ambassador's reasoning appears to be linked to a letter sent by committee Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI) and Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) earlier this month urging the White House to investigate the agreement between Microsoft and the G42. Apparently, the request rankled Emirati officials.