Abu Dhabi’s massive investment in advanced technology research is starting to pay off. The UAE capital’s Technology Innovation Institute sold a data privacy product to San Francisco-based AI firm OPAQUE in the “multi-million-dollar range,” a spokesperson told Semafor, while declining to specify the value or structure of the deal. It is the first time a US company has acquired AI technology of this kind developed in the UAE, according to TII.
“This acquisition reflects what the UAE has set out to do — produce foundational technology that the world adopts,” Faisal Al Bannai, adviser to UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed and secretary general of TII’s parent, the Advanced Technology Research Council, said in a statement. The government-backed group was established in 2020 to bring commercially viable research in areas such as AI, robotics, and new materials to the UAE.
OPAQUE, which counts Anthropic and Accenture as customers, will use the technology to allow AI models to train on otherwise sensitive data — such as patient records, financial transactions, and classified intelligence — while keeping that data private, with encryption designed to withstand future quantum computers.