Microsoft will take its investment in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to $15.2bn by the end of 2029, focusing on AI and cloud computing projects.
Its vice-chair and president, Brad Smith, stated in a blog post that the company has already invested $7.3bn since early 2023 through the end of this year, and plans an additional $7.9bn through 2029.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Of the $7.3bn already spent, Microsoft invested $1.5bn to acquire a minority stake in G42, the UAE’s sovereign AI company, to co-develop advanced AI solutions with Microsoft Azure for various industries and markets across the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa.
More than $4.6bn went to AI and cloud data centre capital expenditure, and over $1.2bn to local operating expenses and cost of goods sold.
Between 2026 and 2029, the tech giant plans to invest more than $5.5bn to further expand its AI and cloud infrastructure, as well as nearly $2.4bn on local operational expenses and cost of goods sold.
In the blog, Smith said: “This is not money raised in the UAE. It is money we are spending in the UAE, and as we do everywhere in the world, we are focused not just on growing our business but also on contributing to the local economy. This involves bringing together three critical factors – technology, talent and trust.”
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataMicrosoft said it was one of the few US companies under the previous Biden administration to win Commerce Department export licences to ship graphics processing units (GPUs) to the UAE.
Those licences allowed the company to amass in the country the equivalent of 21,500 Nvidia A100 GPUs, based on a mix of A100, H100 and H200 chips.
Microsoft also stated that it was the first company this year to win Commerce Department export licences under the Trump administration to send GPUs to the UAE.
Approved in September with stricter technology safeguards, the licences allow shipments equivalent to 60,400 A100 chips.
The GPUs provide access to advanced AI models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft and open-source developers.
The company is supporting AI-enabled applications – including its own Copilot apps – from numerous local and international providers.
In addition to infrastructure investments, Microsoft is placing emphasis on developing local talent. This year saw the establishment of a Global Engineering Development Centre and a new Microsoft AI for Good Lab in Abu Dhabi.
These facilities aim to attract technical expertise and collaborate with various organisations to address regional challenges around the use of AI.
Last month, Microsoft launched a programme along with UAE government bodies, aiming to upskill various government employees nationwide.
It is also partnering with G42 to support public and private-sector organisations across the UAE.
Microsoft’s collaboration with G42 also includes a binding framework developed with input from US and UAE government officials. The agreement covers cybersecurity, export controls, data protection, responsible AI practices and compliance standards.
Meanwhile, superintelligence cloud company Lambda has announced a multibillion-dollar deal with Microsoft to roll out AI infrastructure featuring various Nvidia GPUs, including Nvidia GB300 NVL72 systems.
The partnership is said to mark a “significant multi-year Nvidia AI infrastructure deployment”, widening accessibility to critical cloud-based accelerated computing resources.
