The Corridor
The Corridor is a weekly briefing on technology and global markets. From Dubai, American lawyer Jamilia Grier explores emerging tech and the rules shaping business across the United States, China and the Gulf. Subscribe for clear analysis of what these changes mean for your money and future.
Are you ready for the truth about AI?
VIEW IN BROWSER JAMILIA GRIER September 12, 2026 What the world is slowly learning about AI and how to get in front of it In this issue The Fine Print - what to make of AI researchers resigning IMHO- will we see new laws on AI regulation The Market Signal- what becomes premium when the AI boom is over Hi friend, It’s been a busy week in the world of tech. With Anthropic’s high-profile whistleblowing resignation and the drop of an underwhelming iPhone 18, I needed to take a step back from...
My Chinese EV has 33 sensors. Tesla has nine.
THE CORRIDOR • SEPTEMBER 6, 2026 JAMILIA GRIER My Chinese EV Has 33 Sensors. Tesla Has Nine. In this issue The Fine Print — why more data does not necessarily mean more personal data Who Gets Access? — the question underneath the American ban The Market Signal — why great technology can still be locked out Comment of the Week — capture is not the same as transmission Hi friend, Many of you first found me because I built a life abroad. Lately, I have been showing you another consequence of...
People in Dubai are buying cars from websites in China.
VIEW IN BROWSER JAMILIA GRIER AUGUST 29, 2026 Self-Importing a Chinese Car Into Dubai: How It Works and What I Want to Know In this issue The Fine Print - three questions about importing a car For the Investors- what self-imports say about demand Comment of the Week- the sentence every Chinese-car driver here keeps saying Hi friend, I was catching up with a good friend this week — she's a reader of this letter, so hi, you know who you are — and she mentioned, completely casually, that her...
Who Gets to Drive the Car America Banned
This week I tried to rent a Xiaomi SU7 Ultra for the day and the terms stopped me cold. It was 600 AED ($160) for the day, which is fair enough, but the deposit was 3,000 AED (almost $1,000 USD) and the dealer would only return the deposit after 21 days. There's no Xiaomi dealership in Dubai yet, so the car has come in through a third party, and those are the terms you get when someone knows you have nowhere else to go. I'm not telling you this to complain about a rental car company. I'm...
I moved abroad for more options. My son didn't get them.
I moved abroad so I'd have more options. It worked. Then my son turned 18, moved back to the US, bought a used Elantra for $18,000 at a high interest rate, and I realized the options couldn't go with him. This week: two cars, two loans, and why the country with the expensive reputation gave me the better deal. What happened On Wednesday I put a video up about the Yangwang U8 — BYD's luxury SUV, the one that floats. I drove it in Dubai. It's a car you cannot buy in America, and most people...
Tech regulation across the US, China, and the Gulf — introducing The Corridor
Most entrepreneurs and creators spend years circling the thing they're actually meant to do. Not for lack of talent — the thing you know better than almost anyone sits so close to you that you mistake it for ordinary. That was eighteen years for me. As many of you know, I'm a tech and data lawyer in Dubai. My work sits where the US, China, and the Gulf meet: privacy law, trade controls, AI regulation. I've spent my career inside that intersection, and most of it writing publicly about...
Sometimes dreams show up late - and right on time
In 2018, I walked into a showroom in Shanghai and told myself I was going to buy a NIO. I didn't. Here is how that actually went. I put down a deposit. Then I found out I couldn't get a Chinese driver's license as a foreigner. So they returned my deposit. Not long after, I got pregnant again. And then, before I could sort the license out, COVID arrived and closed the door on all of it. Curveball, curveball, curveball. The plan I had been so sure of quietly came apart, one piece at a time. I...
The Corridor is a weekly briefing on technology and global markets. From Dubai, American lawyer Jamilia Grier explores emerging tech and the rules shaping business across the United States, China and the Gulf. Subscribe for clear analysis of what these changes mean for your money and future.