Microsoft announced further investments within the United Arab Emirates because it seems to develop its knowledge heart footprint and capitalize on export licenses.
The Redmond, Wash.-based tech large has already spent $7.3 billion since 2023, together with a $1.5 billion fairness stake in Abu Dhabi–based mostly G42, the nation’s sovereign AI firm. Microsoft mentioned Monday it plans to speculate one other $7.9 billion from 2026 to 2029.
The funding covers AI and cloud infrastructure, workforce coaching, and new governance initiatives.
“This isn’t cash raised within the UAE. It’s cash we’re spending within the UAE,” Microsoft President Brad Smith wrote in a weblog publish. “And as we do all over the place on the earth, we’re centered not simply on rising our enterprise but in addition on contributing to the native financial system. This includes bringing collectively three crucial components — expertise, expertise, and belief.”
Microsoft mentioned it was the primary U.S. company to get approval from the Trump administration to obtain export licenses from the Commerce Division to ship Nvidia GPUs to the UAE. “We’re utilizing these GPUs to supply entry to superior AI fashions from OpenAI, Anthropic, open-source suppliers, and Microsoft itself,” Smith wrote.
Microsoft says the hassle is guided by “expertise, expertise, and belief,” anchored by a brand new Accountable AI Future Basis and a first-of-its-kind intergovernmental assurance framework designed to align its UAE operations with U.S. cybersecurity and knowledge safety requirements.
Microsoft has almost 1,000 full-time workers within the UAE.
