Microsoft pledges $15 billion investment as US approves Nvidia chips for UAE

Tech firm receives Trump administration approval to export most-advanced chips for its UAE data centres

Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, with Microsoft vice chairman and president Brad Smith in Abu Dhabi. Photo: Abu Dhabi Media Office

Microsoft is to invest nearly $8 billion in the UAE between 2026 and 2029 to support artificial intelligence and cloud infrastructure development.

The tech firm made the pledge as it revealed it had secured licences to export advanced Nvidia A100, H100 and H200 GPUs to the Emirates, in a landmark moment for the UAE's AI ambitions.

The new investment of $7.9 billion follows the financial commitment of $7.3 billion in the UAE between 2023 and the end of 2025.

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Details of the investment were revealed on Monday during a meeting between Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, and Brad Smith, vice chairman and president of Microsoft.

The tech company said the amount would be invested to expand AI and digital infrastructure, improve the skills of local talent through training programmes, and research and development initiatives.

Microsoft said it has worked with the US and UAE governments to ensure compliance with cyber security, export control and responsible AI standards.

The investment highlights the global confidence in the UAE's long-term economic vision to build a diversified, knowledge-based and technology-driven economy, Abu Dhabi Media Office quoted Sheikh Khaled as saying.

“This is not money raised in the UAE. It’s money we’re spending in the UAE,” Mr Smith said. “We’re 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.”

Beginning in 2023 and through to the end of this year, Microsoft will have invested and spent more than $7.3 billion in the UAE, it said.

This includes its $1.5 billion equity investment in UAE AI and cloud company G42 last year, as well as more than $4.6 billion in capital expenses for its AI and cloud data centres in the country, and more than $1.2 billion in local operating expenses and the cost of goods sold.

From the start of 2026 to the end of 2029, Microsoft said it will spend more than $7.9 billion in the UAE.

“This includes more than $5.5 billion in capital expenses for continuing and planned expansion of our AI and cloud infrastructure, including new steps we will share publicly in Abu Dhabi this week,” the company said.

It also includes almost $2.4 billion in planned local operating expenses and the cost of goods sold.

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In the past decade, the UAE has invested heavily in AI as it seeks to be a leader in the sector as part of its economic diversification strategy. In May this year, Mr Smith also told the US Congress that the country should try to emulate the UAE's approach to AI.

He praised Abu Dhabi's Tamm government services AI assistant, which acts as a one-stop shop for government services such as transport, health care, housing and police services. "We need to bring it to America," he told a Senate commerce, science and transport committee hearing, referring to the need for apps that simplify the process of renewing driving licences and obtaining various forms, as well as other services.

In May, the UAE and the US unveiled plans for a new 5GW UAE-US AI Campus in Abu Dhabi. The site will include 5 gigawatts of capacity for AI data centres, providing a regional platform from which US hyperscalers will be able to offer latency-friendly services.

The Commerce Department described the AI campus as one of the largest outside the US, and said it would be home to large and small companies that can help to “leverage the capacity for regional compute with the ability to serve the Global South".

The almost 26-square-kilometre campus is being built by G42 in Abu Dhabi and operated in partnership with several US companies. “Abu Dhabi and the UAE are firmly establishing themselves as global centres for AI innovation and adoption, embedding technology into every facet of government, society, and the economy," Khaldoon Al Mubarak, secretary general of the Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Technology Council, said on Monday.

"This investment [by Microsoft] also strengthens the deep and enduring technology partnership between the UAE and the US, reflecting our shared commitment to harness AI for sustainable growth, economic diversification and opportunity for future generations.”

On Sunday, Microsoft signed deals with Adnoc to integrate AI across the oil company's value chain and power the US tech company's global AI and data centre growth. Adnoc and Microsoft's expanded agreement will include Masdar and XRG, which will develop sustainable energy projects and infrastructure to drive the expansion of AI and data centres, Adnoc said on Sunday.

Adnoc and Microsoft will co-develop and embed AI agents to drive autonomous operations and boost efficiency, the companies said.

AI for good

Microsoft has also set up a global engineering development centre and the Microsoft AI for Good Lab in Abu Dhabi to support research and innovation in responsible AI and large-scale models.

In collaboration with UAE government entities and educational institutions, Microsoft has also pledged to skill one million people in the UAE by 2027, including 120,000 government employees, 175,000 students, and 39,000 teachers.