UAE, Germany agree to AI, energy investments

The UAE and Germany signed investment deals focused on AI and energy worth several USD bns, Reuters reports.

The investment is part of a bid to diversify the Gulf nation’s relationships across Europe. It comes at a time when the UAE’s relationship with its most powerful ally, the US, is particularly fraught due to the US-Iran war and its consequent pressure on energy exports. Existing UAE-German trade, excluding oil, is worth about USD 15.5 bn per year, per Reuters.

The Emirati line: “A stronger ​UAE–Germany relationship can help connect European industrial and technological strengths with capital, ​energy and growth opportunities across the Gulf, Asia and Africa,” Lana Nusseibeh, a top UAE official told reporters, per Reuters.

The UAE is also investing USD 1 bn in a French space AI project, according to Le Monde. The funding will go to creating a constellation of 50 AI-equipped satellites operated by the French-American firm Loft Orbital, Le Monde reports. The funding will come from Marlan Space, a subsidiary of IHC, the high-profile holding company chaired by UAE national security advisor Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan.