According to various media reports, the Biden administration has recently forced the Saudi Aramco venture capital firm to sell its shares in the Silicon Valley-based AI chip startup Rain Neuromorphics Inc. – a startup backed by OpenAi CEO Sam Altman.
The startup aims to design chips that mirror how the brain works and serve companies that employ AI-powered tools.
The AI chip major last year raised a $25 million funding round in which Saudi Aramco-backed venture capital firm Prosperity7 was a lead investor.
The move to compel Prosperity7 to exit the US AI firm came after an intervention by the Committee on Foreign Investment (CFIUS) in the United States. Aramco’s exit dictates broader implications for the Middle Eastern country’s growing investments in US technology.
According to Bloomberg, the move comes in light of concerns regarding US national security. And Aramco was informed about the Committee’s decision last year.
Speaking of the development, CFIUS stated,
“CFIUS is committed to taking all necessary actions within its authority to safeguard U.S. national security. Consistent with law and practice, CFIUS does not publicly comment on transactions that it may or may not be reviewing,” said CFIUS.
In October this year, concerns were raised that China was accessing advanced US AI tech through nations like Saudi Arabia. The move to cut off Rain AI’s links to Saudi Arabia highlights the USA’s intentions to regulate and shape the global spread and development of advanced technologies, to maintain an edge over rivals like China.
Besides this, the US expanded restrictions on exporting advanced AI chips, products of companies like Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices, to include certain West Asian countries.
According to WION, China’s collaboration with the Saudis has deepened over the past years in the field of AI. Western officials have expressed long-standing anxieties regarding the increasing technology transfer between their traditional allies in the Gulf and China.
