Group 42 (company)

Group 42

Type	Private
Industry	Artificial Intelligence, cloud Computing
Founded	2018;5 years ago (2018)
Headquarters	Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Area served	U.A.E.
Key people	Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan (chairman) Peng Xiao (CEO)
Products	AI, cloud Computing, cloud storage services
Number of employees	2500+
Subsidiaries	G42 Healthcare
Website	g42.ai

Group 42 (also known as G42) is an artificial intelligence and cloud computing company that was founded in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2018. The organization is oriented to development of AI industries in the government sector, healthcare, finance, oil and gas, aviation and hospitality.

Corporate history

Group 42 was founded in 2017. and is based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It comprises a multidisciplinary and diverse team of data scientists and engineers. The company performs fundamental AI research and development process on big data, AI, and machine learning via its subsidiary the Inception Institute of Artificial Intelligence (IIAI). ^[1] The company is controlled and chaired by the National Security Advisor of UAE, Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan. ^{[2] [3]}

Partnership

G42 works in partnerships including joint ventures, strategic teaming agreements, and direct investment made by G42.^{[ citation needed ]}

Acquisition

• Bayanat: On 14 January 2020, G42 announced the acquisition of Bayanat for Mapping and Surveying Services LLC, an end-to-end and custom provider of geospatial data products and services. The acquisition was said to complement G42's suite of satellite-based solutions^{[ buzzword ]}, leveraging its proficiency in data analytics and artificial intelligence methods. ^{[4] [5] [6]}

Partnership

• Alibaba Cloud: Alibaba Cloud in partnership with G42, hosted the first MEA Internet Summit. The event was held with the aim of drawing the participation of technology experts and executives from the top 100 Internet companies in the region. The summit took place at the time of the Ghyma Conference 2019. ^{[7] [8]}
• Adalytyx: On 23 December 2019, Group 42 announced signing an agreement of strategic partnership with Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company (ADDH) for the establishment of a joint venture called Adalytyx. ^[9]
• Cerebras: Cerebras partnered with G42 to deploy its AI supercomputers to create chatbots and to analyze genomic and preventive care data. In July 2023, G42 agreed to pay around $100 million to purchase the first of potentially nine supercomputers from Cerebras. ^{[10] [11]}

Investment

• ToTok: Group 42 was reportedly the sole registered shareholder of the free messaging, video, and voice calling mobile application, ToTok. The application was downloaded by users in the Middle East, Asia, Europe, North America, and Africa, within several months. The application was accused of being "used by the government of the United Arab Emirates to try to track every conversation, movement, relationship, appointment, sound and image of those who install it," in a New York Times exposé in December 2019. ^[12] Following the allegations, the application was removed by Apple and Google from their application stores. Reportedly, the CEO of G42 has also been running Pegasus – a subsidiary of an Emirati security firm, DarkMatter, which received scrutiny over the hiring of former CIA and NSA officials to spy on Americans, dissidents, and political rivals. The company, however, denies having any connection with DarkMatter. ^{[13] [14]}

Collaboration

• Rafael and IAI: On 2 July 2020, G42 announced the signing a memorandum of understanding with two Israeli defense groups – Rafael and Israel Aerospace Industries – to research and develop methods to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The Israeli defense firms’ subsidiary Elta confirmed the agreement. ^{[15] [16]}
• NanoScent: The healthcare subsidiary of G42 signed a preliminary agreement with NanoScent, Israel, on 19 August 2020, for the development of a test capable of detecting COVID-19 from the air exhaled ScentCheck,.. The Emirati News Agency claimed the device could deliver results in 30 to 60 seconds. G42 was said to undergo several tests for the device in the forthcoming weeks. ^{[17] [18]}
• BGI Group: Tahnoun bin Zayed-linked ^{[ clarification needed ]} Group 42 was reported to have donated Chinese-made Covid testing kits to Nevada. These testing kits were objected to by the US intelligence and security officials, who raised concerns over privacy risks, citing that the gene-sequencing machines of the BGI Group could misuse the patients’ DNA. G42 is also reportedly working with BGI on a project for collecting genetic data of the UAE citizens to “generate the highest quality, most comprehensive genome data”. ^{[19] [20]}

References

1. "About G42". Group 42. Archived from the original on 2022-03-07. Retrieved 2020-09-03.
2. Cornwell, Alexander (18 August 2022). "Mubadala-backed AI firm G42 sets up $10 bln tech fund". Reuters.
3. Baigorri, Manuel; Bartenstein, Ben; Cao, Dong (14 March 2023). "UAE Spy Chief's Firm Buys Into ByteDance at $220 Billion Value". Bloomberg News.
4. "Artificial intelligence company Group 42 acquires Abu Dhabi-based Bayanat". The National. Archived from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
5. "G42 Announces the Acquisition of Bayanat". Group 42. Archived from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
6. "Group 42 announces acquisition of Bayanat". Emirates News Agency. Archived from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
7. "Tech Giant Alibaba Cloud Partners With UAE's Group 42 to Host First MEA Internet Summit". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 2020-01-02. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
8. "Tech Giant Alibaba Cloud Partners With UAE's Group 42 to Host First MEA Internet Summit". Business Wire. Archived from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
9. "ADDH and G42 Announce Joint Venture". Group 42. Archived from the original on 12 April 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
10. Nellis, Stephen; Hu, Krystal (20 July 2023). "Cerebras Systems signs $100 mln AI supercomputer deal with UAE's G42". Reuters.
11. Lu, Yiwen (20 July 2023). "An A.I. Supercomputer Whirs to Life, Powered by Giant Computer Chips". The New York Times.
12. "It Seemed Like a Popular Chat App. It's Secretly a Spy Tool". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 1 May 2020. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
13. "Co-creator defends suspected UAE spying app called ToTok". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
14. "Google and Apple remove alleged UAE spy app ToTok". BBC. Archived from the original on 27 December 2019. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
15. "Israeli, UAE technology firms pen deal on virus research". ABC News. Archived from the original on 3 July 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
16. "Group 42 joins forces with Israeli Rafael and IAI to defeat Covid-19". Emirates News Agency. Archived from the original on 4 July 2020. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
17. "UAE's G42 Healthcare and Israel's NanoScent sign MOU for COVID-19 screening test". Reuters. Archived from the original on 20 August 2020. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
18. "UAE's G42 Healthcare and Israel's NanoScent sign MOU for COVID-19 screening device". Nasdaq. Archived from the original on 6 November 2020. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
19. "US warned Nevada not to use Chinese COVID tests from UAE". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 16 October 2020. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
20. "Chinese Covid-19 Tests Were Pushed by Federal Agencies Despite Security Warnings". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 13 January 2021.