Historic agreement signed between US and Israel

In a milestone moment for US-Israel relations, the two nations signed a historic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Tuesday, formalizing a powerful new alliance in the fields of artificial intelligence and energy infrastructure. The agreement was signed at Blair House in Washington, with high-level participation from both governments.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Secretaries Doug Burgum (Interior) and Chris Wright (Energy) joined US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and Israel’s Ambassador to Washington Yechiel Leiter for the landmark signing. Also leading the effort was Israel’s Energy Secretary Eli Cohen, whose vision helped shape the strategic framework.

The MoU aims to accelerate joint research and policy development in applying AI technologies to fortify national energy grids and drive energy innovation across both countries. Israel’s Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, the Prime Minister’s Office, and several US federal agencies including the Department of Energy and the White House National Energy Dominance Council are key parties to the agreement.

“The future belongs to those who innovate,” Netanyahu declared. “America and Israel are the prime innovation nations on the planet. AI is the thrust of innovation now… This day will be remembered. Not every signing ceremony is as significant as this. This is very significant.”

This agreement follows weeks of deepened US-Israel cooperation in the wake of Israel’s successful 12-day air campaign against Iran’s nuclear sites. As Secretary Burgum emphasized, “The planning, the execution, the world has never seen anything like it truly eliminating one of the existential threats that was facing the entire world.”

He continued, “This step takes us into the future… Defense would not be working without AI, and Israel’s incredible startup community and technological leadership make it the perfect partner.”

Secretary Wright echoed this sentiment “Israel has been a great American ally for a long time, and our partnership has never been tighter, never been stronger than it is today.”

The MoU sets the stage for concrete collaboration in key strategic sectors and reinforces Israel’s status as a premier global innovation hub. From securing critical infrastructure to driving forward breakthroughs in clean energy and machine learning, this partnership opens new frontiers for both nations.

As Netanyahu noted, “It will make both of us greater again.” This is not just diplomacy it’s shared destiny.

 

China: US investors plow billions into AI sector

According to a Reuters report investors from United States, including the investment arms of Intel and Qualcomm accounted for nearly a fifth of investments in Chinese artificial intelligence companies from 2015 to 2021.

The document, released by CSET, a tech policy group at Georgetown University, comes amid growing scrutiny of US investments in AI, Quantum and semiconductors, as the Biden administration prepares to unveil new restrictions on US funding of Chinese tech companies.

According to the report, 167 US investors took part in 401 transactions, or roughly 17% of the investments into Chinese AI companies in the period.

Those transactions represented more than US$40 billion in investment, or 37% of the total raised by Chinese AI companies in the 6-year period. It was not clear from the report, which pulled information from data provider Crunchbase, what percentage of the funding came from the US firms.

Qualcomm Ventures and Intel Capital were involved in 13 and 11 investments in Chinese AI companies respectively, outpaced by GGV Capital which led US firms with 43 total investments in the sector, the data showed.

The Biden administration is expected to unveil an executive order this year curbing some US investments in sensitive Chinese tech industries, as hawks in Washington blame American investors for transferring capital and valuable know-how to Chinese tech companies that could help advance Beijing's military capabilities.

According to the report, US investor GSR Ventures invested alongside China's IFlytek Co in a Chinese AI company after the speech recognition firm was added to a trade blacklist.

Silicon Valley Bank and Wanxiang American Healthcare investments group made investments in Chinese AI firms alongside China's Sensetime before the powerhouse in facial recognition technology was added to the same trade blacklist.

Both companies were added to the blacklist, which effectively bars them from receiving US tech exports, in 2019 for alleged human rights violations related to the repression of Uighur Muslims.

Some of the largest investments include Goldman Sachs' solo investment in 1KMXC, an AI-enabled robotics company, as well as an investment by three US-based VC firms in Geek+, an autonomous mobile robot company, the report showed.

Only one Chinese AI company that received funding from US investors is involved in developing AI applications for military or public safety uses, according to CSET.