Global tech giant Microsoft has announced that it will invest US$15.2 billion in the UAE by 2029, as part of its AI initiative that began in 2023. Microsoft already has a significant presence in the Middle Eastern nation, mainly through its partnership with G42, the UAE’s sovereign AI company.
Revealing its investments so far, and future plans in an official blog, Microsoft said that beginning in 2023 and through the end of this calendar year, Microsoft will have invested and spent just over US$ 7.3 billion in the UAE. “This includes our US$ 1.5 billion equity investment in G42, more than US$ 4.6 billion in capital expenses in advanced AI and cloud datacenters in the country, and more than US$ 1.2 billion in local operating expenses and the cost of goods sold,” said the company.
Peng Xiao, Group CEO, G42 said, “Our partnership with Microsoft is not only about aspiration, it’s about execution and impact. Together, we are deploying world-class digital infrastructure, advancing the frontiers of AI across industries, and establishing a new standard for cross-border collaboration rooted in trust. This is how we build enduring value, not just for the UAE, but for a more interconnected and intelligent world.”
Microsoft also touched upon how it has been able to secure export licenses from the US Commerce Department to ship GPUs to the UAE.“These licenses enable us to ship the equivalent of 60,400 additional A100 chips, in this instance involving Nvidia’s even more advanced GB300 GPUs,” said Microsoft, adding, “We’re using these GPUs to provide access to advanced AI models from OpenAI, Anthropic, open-source providers, and Microsoft itself.”
The company further said that from the start of 2026 to the end of 2029, it will spend more than US$ 7.9 billion in the UAE. This includes more than US$ 5.5 billion in capital expenses for ongoing and planned expansion of its AI and cloud infrastructure, and almost US$ 2.4 billion in planned local operating expenses and the cost of goods sold.
