Microsoft announced a $15.2 billion investment in the United Arab Emirates over the next four years during the first annual Abu Dhabi Global AI Summit. The investment includes the first-ever shipments of the most advanced Nvidia GPUs to the UAE, marking a major milestone in the company’s regional AI expansion.
The U.S. Commerce Department granted Microsoft a license to export Nvidia chips to the UAE, positioning the country as both a proving ground for U.S. export-control policy and a regional hub of American AI influence. The project follows a May agreement between former President Donald Trump and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan to build an AI data center campus in Abu Dhabi, which had been delayed due to U.S. export restrictions on high-performance GPUs.
Microsoft has become the first company to receive the necessary license to ship Nvidia chips to the UAE, allowing it to accumulate the equivalent of 21,500 GPUs, including A100, H100, and H200 models. The company is using these chips to provide access to AI models from OpenAI, Anthropic, open-source providers, and its own platforms.
The $15.2 billion total includes investments made since 2023 as part of Microsoft’s UAE AI initiative. From 2023 through 2025, the company will have spent over $7.3 billion, comprising $1.5 billion in equity for G42, the UAE’s sovereign AI company, and more than $4.6 billion in data center capital. The new agreement pledges an additional $7.9 billion from 2026 through 2029, with $5.5 billion allocated to ongoing AI and cloud infrastructure expansion. Microsoft has indicated it will announce further initiatives in Abu Dhabi this week.
Beyond infrastructure, Microsoft is investing heavily in local talent and governance. The company plans to train one million UAE residents by 2027 and establish Abu Dhabi as a regional hub for AI research and model development.
The UAE investment coincides with Microsoft’s $9.7 billion deal with Australia’s IREN for AI cloud capacity, demonstrating the company’s global strategy to secure AI infrastructure and services. The move strengthens Microsoft’s presence in the Middle East, a key region in the international AI race, while integrating advanced technology, training programs, and cybersecurity measures to meet stringent national security conditions.
This multi-billion-dollar initiative reflects Microsoft’s commitment to combining AI deployment with workforce development, positioning the UAE as a central hub for AI innovation and U.S. influence in the region.