TII sells cryptographic tech to Opaque

The UAE is upping the ante on local manufacturing and exports — and that includes exporting technology. Abu Dhabi tech firms are exporting their tech to Asia and Europe, with the likes of Presight and G42 exporting AI capabilities, and now Abu Dhabi's Advanced Technology Research Council’s research arm, Technology Innovation Institute (TII), selling cryptographic AI technologies to US firms.

Cryptographic… what now? Think of it as AI that works in the dark. Standard AI requires data to be “unscrambled” before processing, leaving it vulnerable. TII’s tech — specifically using Private Federated Learning and Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) — allows models to be trained and run while the data remains encrypted.

Confidential AI firm Opaque acquired the intellectual property for two cryptographic AI technologies developed by TII — one allowing Opaque to add confidential AI model training to its platform, and another that adds a layer of data protection, according to a press release. The agreement also included a licensing arrangement for TII’s cryptographic libraries, including post-quantum algorithms to protect data, Dr. Victor Mateu, chief researcher at TII’s Cryptography Research Center, tells EnterpriseAM.

Why is cryptographic tech important? “Most enterprises sit on a corpus of data too sensitive to use and too valuable to ignore,” said Opaque Co-founder Ion Stoica. “With this acquisition, Opaque is the only platform delivering hardware-attested cryptographic evidence across the full AI lifecycle — training, fine-tuning, inference, and agents — with protections engineered to withstand quantum-era threats. That combination doesn't exist anywhere else in the market today,” he added.

The sale also sees TII acquiring a stake in the firm, Mateu confirmed, adding that Opaque currently operates in the UAE and the US, with the technologies set to be integrated into its portfolio to be offered to its clientele globally.

What’s next for TII? The applied research arm is commercializing technology it develops across domains like quantum computing, propulsion science, and robotics, with the goal of broadening access, Mateu says. That could sometimes mean taking a certain technology to market itself through its venture builder arm, VentureOne, or adopting a licensing approach, he adds.