#UAE #worldmodels - Abu Dhabi-based technology group G42 and its portfolio company Analog, a physical intelligence start-up, have signed memoranda of understanding with Paris-based Advanced Machine Intelligence (AMI Labs), the frontier AI research company co-founded by Turing Award laureate Yann LeCun. Signed at the UAE-France Business Dialogue in Abu Dhabi this week, the non-binding agreements span world models, AI infrastructure, sovereign enabled cloud and industrial applications. The aim is to identify where world models could be applied across industries.
SO WHAT? - World models are AI systems that learn how the physical environment works, so they can predict outcomes and create scenario planning. AMI Labs brings the research, and G42 brings compute, cloud and a deployment route through Analog. For G42, the deal adds to a growing French footprint that includes its Grenoble data centre and its Mistral AI partnership. These are MoUs, though, and they commit neither side to spending. Scope and commercial terms will come in separate agreements, so the real test is whether any of them are signed.
KEY POINTS:
G42 and Analog signed MoUs with Paris-based Advanced Machine Intelligence (AMI Labs) this week, on the sidelines of the UAE-France Business Dialogue in Abu Dhabi. The agreements build on bilateral AI cooperation between the two countries.
The MoUs span frontier AI research, advanced compute infrastructure, sovereign enabled cloud and potential industrial applications. They also cover potential integration with technology platforms.
Co-founded by Yann LeCun, Advanced Machine Intelligence is headquartered in Paris. The company is developing world models, which understand physical environments, anticipate the outcomes of actions, and support reasoning and planning.
Headquartered in Abu Dhabi, Analog was established in 2023 with lead investment from G42. Founder and CEO Alex Kipman, inventor behind Microsoft’s HoloLens and Kinect, moved to Abu Dhabi to launch the company and advance Physical Intelligence.
The proposed collaboration would combine AMI Labs’ research with G42’s AI infrastructure, cloud and deployment capabilities, including Analog’s Physical Intelligence platform. The partners would identify where world models could work across industries.
The agreements (which are are non-binding) provide a framework to exchange information, define shared objectives and shape future cooperation, with scope, commercial terms and implementation set in separate definitive agreements.
The deal expands G42’s presence in France. It builds on G42’s operational AI data centre in Grenoble and its strategic partnership with Mistral AI, formalised in May 2025.
Analog’s stated focus includes intelligent cities, autonomous infrastructure, immersive cultural experiences and robotics. It works with governments and global enterprises.
ZOOM OUT - AMI Labs already has some Abu Dhabi backing. In March 2026, the $100 million Presight-Shorooq Fund I confirmed AMI as one of its first six investments. Set up by ADX-listed Presight and Abu Dhabi investment firm Shorooq in 2025, the fund joined AMI's $1.03 billion seed round, one of the largest ever raised by an AI startup. Other backers include Temasek, Nvidia, Mark Cuban and Eric Schmidt. LeCun is executive chair, and Alexandre LeBrun is CEO. The startup’s pre-money valuation was about $3.5 billion. AMI is targeting manufacturing, aerospace, robotics and biomedical applications.
[Written and edited with the assistance of AI]
Source: G42
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