«Данное сообщение (материал) создано и (или) распространено иностранным средством массовой информации, выполняющим функции иностранного агента, и (или) российским юридическим лицом, выполняющим функции иностранного агента»
Topic: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Blog Brand: Techland Region: Americas, and Middle East Tags: Gulf, North America, Pax Silica, Qatar, UAE, and United States For Pax Silica, Not All Gulf Partners Are Created Equal February 3, 2026 By: Leah Siskind, and Natalie Ecanow
Share
The United States must apply stricter standards to Pax Silica partners, as Qatar’s track record does not justify its inclusion in a trusted AI security coalition.
The race for AI supremacy will be won or lost by the company we keep, and right now the United States is in high-stakes competition for control of the supply chains that make AI possible. While the US has led the world in the development of frontier AI models, it can’t win the race against China alone. This is why Washington is assembling a powerful coalition of allies to secure all parts of the AI supply chain.
In that spirit, the State Department announced the expansion of its AI economic security initiative, “Pax Silica,” to include Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). When asked about the criteria for membership in Pax Silica at an event on January 29, Undersecretary for Economic Affairs and global AI booster Jacob Helberg cautioned against having purity tests. Purity may not be necessary, but a come-one, come-all approach is misguided.
Undoubtedly, the State Department has cogent reasons to take Pax Silica to the Gulf. The region is home to some of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds and is already investing heavily in energy and compute power needed for AI proliferation. These are assets that China is also eager to court. But Washington shouldn’t talk about a one-size-fits-all approach to Gulf partnerships. The UAE has shown in recent years to be more reliable than Qatar, which has continued to promote groups such as Hamas, the Taliban, and the Muslim Brotherhood. For Pax Silica to reach its fullest potential, the Trump administration should adopt a more discriminating approach to who gets a seat at the table.
Qatar’s Track Record Raises Questions for AI Security Cooperation
Qatar has a storied history of funneling cash to terrorist groups and providing safe harbor to their leaders and funders. President Donald Trump himself said in 2017 that Qatar “has historically been a funder of terrorism at a very high level” and that “the time had come to call on Qatar to end its funding.” After intense condemnation, Qatar made some reforms. But Doha continues to play the United States against anti-American forces.
Qatar’s pattern of undermining American security interests extends into the information domain. Qatar’s state-owned media juggernaut, Al Jazeera, pushes anti-American and anti-Israeli narratives that are frequently cited in large language models, filling the void left by Western legacy media, which is mostly behind paywalls or blocking AI tools. According to research published by FDD, Al Jazeera was the third most cited source in popular AI tools when asked about current conflicts in Israel and Gaza, Russia and Ukraine, and China and Taiwan. A new generation of researchers who rely on American AI tools for news on current events are being fed and indoctrinated with Qatari propaganda. Qatar shouldn’t reap the benefits of collaborating with the world’s leading AI visionaries, like the United States, the United Kingdom (UK), and Israel, while working against American interests elsewhere.
The UAE as a Pragmatic and Improving Partner
Unlike Qatar, the UAE has demonstrated over the last several years that it is a pragmatic partner in the Middle East. Abu Dhabi’s 2020 decision to normalize relations with Israel and sign the US-led Abraham Accords was a historic breakthrough. The UAE is also pushing back against the Muslim Brotherhood, which the Trump administration is committed to dismantling—and that Qatar actively promotes.
Moreover, the Emiratis have invested heavily in academic research on AI and are integrating the technology into their government to better serve constituents. The UAE now has one of the highest AI adoption rates in the world. It’s not surprising that an AI partnership between the United States and the UAE was one of the first international agreements inked during President Trump’s second term. The UAE isn’t a traditional American ally like the fellow democracies already in Pax Silica. But that’s precisely the point—bringing Abu Dhabi into the fold is an opportunity to anchor its AI ambitions to the United States instead of China. The UAE’s flagship AI initiative, G42, has fallen under scrutiny more than once for allegedly working with Chinese government entities, including China’s military.
Pax Silica Needs Standards, Not Symbolism
The success of Pax Silica is predicated upon trust and collaboration to create resilient critical infrastructure across the AI supply chain and support mutual prosperity. The UAE continues to demonstrate trustworthiness as it pushes back against extremism in the region and moves to decouple its tech from China. Qatar hasn’t earned that trust, and adding it to Pax Silica creates an asymmetric standard that rewards adversarial behavior. Pax Silica’s member states need to be held to a higher standard to take part in this potentially transformative initiative.
About the Authors: Leah Siskind and Natalie Ecanow
Leah Siskind is a research fellow at the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation (CCTI) at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), where she focuses on artificial intelligence. She previously served as the deputy director of the AI Corps at the US Department of Homeland Security. Follow Leah on X @Leahsiskind.
Natalie Ecanow is a senior research analyst at FDD focused on the Middle East and the Gulf. Prior to joining FDD, she worked at a private foundation in New York and on Middle Eastern affairs as an intern at the Hudson Institute. Natalie holds a BA in political science from Duke University and is an MA candidate in security studies at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. Follow Natalie on X @NatalieEcanow.
Follow FDD on X @FDD.
Image: motioncenter/shutterstock
The post For Pax Silica, Not All Gulf Partners Are Created Equal appeared first on The National Interest.
Источник: nationalinterest.org