Microsoft set to invest $7.9B in UAE through 2029

ISTANBUL

US tech giant Microsoft announced Monday that it will invest $7.9 billion in the United Arab Emirates in 2026-2029, including investments in the AI and cloud infrastructure.

Microsoft said online that a new AI initiative was launched in 2023 with the encouragement and support of the US and UAE governments, and that the company will invest a total of $15.2 billion in the UAE over seven years as part of this initiative.

"This includes our $1.5 billion equity investment in G42, more than $4.6 billion in capital expenses in advanced AI and cloud datacenters in the country, and more than $1.2 billion in local operating expenses and the cost of goods sold," it said.

The tech giant stated that from the start of 2026 to the end of 2029, it will spend more than $7.9 billion in the UAE.

"This includes more than $5.5 billion in capital expenses for ongoing and planned expansion of our AI and cloud infrastructure, including new steps we will share publicly in Abu Dhabi this week. It also includes almost $2.4 billion in planned local operating expenses and the cost of goods sold," Microsoft said.

Microsoft also announced on Monday that it has obtained export permits to supply the UAE with Nvidia chips.

The firm said that the export licenses, which were granted in September, were predicated on "updated and stringent technology safeguards" and that it is the first company under US President Donald Trump's administration to obtain such permits from the Commerce Department.

With the help of the licenses, Nvidia may now export 60,400 more A100 processors, including the more sophisticated GB300 GPUs from industry favorite Nvidia.