WASHINGTON, July 29 (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates

scuttled meetings this month between U.S. Congressional staffers

and G42 after U.S. lawmakers raised concerns the Emirati AI firm

could transfer powerful U.S. AI technology to China, according

to a congressional spokesperson.

The UAE Ambassador to the U.S. "personally intervened" to

stop staffers from the House Select Committee on China from

meeting G42 and Emirati government officials, said the person,

who was briefed on the cancellations and declined to be named

because of internal committee policies.

U.S. lawmakers have raised concerns about a $1.5 billion

investment by Microsoft ( MSFT ) in G42, fearing sensitive

technology could be transferred to the UAE firm, which has

historic ties to China.

"The committee has even more concerns about the

G42-Microsoft ( MSFT ) deal given the UAE refusal to meet with

congressional staff to discuss these issues. As a result, expect

Congress to get more involved in oversight of these

negotiations," the committee spokesperson told Reuters.

The canceled meetings could signal diplomatic fallout from

growing efforts by China hardliners in Congress to scrutinize

the G42-Microsoft ( MSFT ) deal and rein in the flow of sensitive AI

technology to the Middle East over fears of diversion to China.

The State Department declined to comment. A spokesperson for

G42 refers questions to the Emirati government.

A spokesperson for the UAE embassy said: "There clearly was

a miscommunication around the visit" noting that the UAE Embassy

"was only made aware of the staff delegation shortly before it

was about to arrive."

The Embassy has met and talked with many of the Committee's

members and staffers in recent months, the spokesperson said.

"The Committee has been briefed regularly as the UAE and U.S.

work to strengthen the control of advanced technologies critical

to both countries' shared security interests."

The staffers had sought the meetings as part of a regional

visit on July 16-19 to discuss the transfer of sophisticated

chips from companies like Nvidia ( NVDA ) to the UAE and Saudi

Arabia, the spokesperson added, as well as U.S.-China tech

competition.

According to the spokesperson, Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba

cited a July 11 letter sent by committee chairman John Moolenaar

to U.S. National Security Advisory Jake Sullivan seeking an

intelligence assessment of Microsoft's ( MSFT ) investment in G42.

The July letter, also signed by House Foreign Affairs chair

Michael McCaul, sought the White House briefing before

Microsoft's ( MSFT ) investment in G42 could advance to a second phase

involving the transfer of export-restricted semiconductor chips

from Nvidia ( NVDA ) and model weights, sophisticated data that improves

an AI model's ability to emulate human reasoning.

The Biden administration imposed sweeping new curbs on AI

chip exports last year in a bid to cut off more avenues for

China to obtain them, imposing a licensing requirement on their

shipment to the UAE and other Middle Eastern countries.

The Biden administration has defended the G42-Microsoft ( MSFT )

deal, because it forced G42 to sever ties to China's Huawei.

The regional visit, which included staffers from both the

Democratic and Republican parties, also included a meeting with

Saudi officials, who "were very eager to meet with the

delegation and expressed a strong desire to address any U.S.

concerns about (Chinese government) activities in Saudi Arabia

to receive permission to import U.S. advanced chips," the

spokesperson added.