Microsoft will invest $15.2 billion in the United Arab Emirates between 2023 and 2029, the company has announced as Abu Dhabi and Dubai host energy and technology conferences this week.
The investment represents money Microsoft is spending in the UAE rather than funds raised locally.
The company began the initiative two and a half years ago with support from the United States and UAE governments, working in partnership with G42, the UAE’s sovereign AI company.
Investment breakdown shows $7.3 billion already deployed
From 2023 through the end of 2025, Microsoft will have invested just over $7.3 billion in the UAE. This includes a $1.5 billion equity investment in G42, more than $4.6 billion in capital expenses for AI and cloud datacentres, and more than $1.2 billion in operating expenses and cost of goods sold.
Between 2026 and 2029, Microsoft plans to spend more than $7.9 billion in the UAE. This comprises more than $5.5 billion in capital expenses for AI and cloud infrastructure expansion and almost $2.4 billion in operating expenses and cost of goods sold.
“On some days, it feels like the tech sector is gripped in a rhetorical race to announce ever larger, sky-high numbers. We believe in moving fast while staying grounded and being transparent about our investment details. And we want to share our strong conviction that our investmentsย benefitย the shareholders of our company, the people of the UAE, and the relationship between our two nations,” Microsoft said in a statement.
GPU export licences secured under two US administrations
Microsoft secured export licences from the US Commerce Department to ship GPUs to the UAE during the previous administration, accumulating the equivalent of 21,500 Nvidia A100 GPUs through a combination of A100, H100, and H200 chips.
In September this year, Microsoft became the first company under the Trump administration to secure export licences to ship GPUs to the UAE. These licences enable the company to ship the equivalent of 60,400 additional A100 chips, involving Nvidia’s GB300 GPUs.
“Microsoft was one of the few companies during the previous administration to secure export licenses from the Commerce Department to ship GPUs to the UAE,” the company said. “In no small measure, this is because of the substantial work we did to meet the strong cybersecurity, national security, and other technology conditions required by these licenses.”
UAE leads world in per capita AI usage
The UAE ranks first globally in per capita AI usage, according to Microsoft’s AI Diffusion Report published last week. Some 59.4 per cent of the UAE population uses generative AI, ahead of Singapore at 58.6 per cent. No other country exceeds the 50 per cent mark.
“Microsoft’s infrastructure challenge in the UAE is not a risk of getting ahead of demand but keeping pace with it,” the company stated.
The GPUs support access to AI models from OpenAI, Anthropic, open-source providers, and Microsoft. The infrastructure powers AI-enabled applications, including Copilot applications, from local and international providers.
Microsoft employs nearly 1,000 staff across 40 nationalities
Microsoft’s UAE team includes almost 1,000 employees and related staff representing 40 nationalities. Nearly 100 employees work as engineers, supported by an Emirati partner ecosystem that has grown almost threefold in two years to 1,400 firms employing nearly 45,000 professionals.
Microsoft established a Global Engineering Development Centre in Abu Dhabi this year to attract tech talent to the UAE. The engineers develop products and services for Microsoft and support institutions and businesses using AI and cloud technologies.
The company also opened a centre for the Microsoft AI for Good Lab in Abu Dhabi, staffed by PhD-level research talent specialising in large-scale AI models, vision-language models, and post-training techniques. The lab has partnered with researchers to train large language models for languages spoken in Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Skills training programme targets one million people by 2027
In November last year, Microsoft committed to skill one million people in the UAE by the end of 2027. Last month at GITEX, Microsoft partnered with UAE government entities to launch an initiative to upskill 120,000 government employees across the federal government, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah.
The company will skill 175,000 students and 39,000 teachers through collaborations with GEMS, Abu Dhabi Department of Education (ADEK), and the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA). Microsoft plans to announce further steps on Thursday in Dubai.
“Without the right skills, AI risks deepening inequality rather than broadening opportunity,” Microsoft said. “That’s why skilling is a core pillar of our investment in the UAE.”
Responsible AI foundation established in Abu Dhabi
G42, Microsoft, and Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) founded the Responsible AI Future Foundation (RAIFF) in Abu Dhabi in February.
The foundation promotes AI standards and best practices in the Middle East and across the Global South, advancing research on technical and ethical elements of AI and developing frameworks for ethical deployment accounting for cultural diversity.
The first Abu Dhabi Global AI Summit began on Sunday, hosted by G42, Microsoft, RAIFF, and Eurasia Group’s GZERO Media. The summit brings government ministers, executives, and AI leaders together to discuss AI diffusion across the Global South.
Intergovernmental assurance agreement sets binding framework
Microsoft and G42 created an Intergovernmental Assurance Agreement (IGAA) in April last year in conjunction with Microsoft’s $1.5 billion investment. Developed in consultation with the US and UAE governments, the binding framework between the two companies ensures both meet or exceed US standards in cybersecurity, physical security, export controls, technology transfer, data protection, responsible AI, and Know Your Customer (KYC) practices.
“We consulted not only leaders from government ministries in our two countries, but with members and staff of both political parties in both houses of Congress in Washington, D.C.,” Microsoft said. “We listened to feedback and adapted the IGAA to address their suggestions.”
Microsoft is travelling to Abu Dhabi this week with a Seattle delegation of public and private leaders, including a former Governor and leaders in economic development, higher education, medical research, the non-profit community, and sports.
“Microsoft is committed to the future of the UAE and a strong relationship between our two nations,” the company stated. “We believe in the UAE’s long-term economic vision and the role the UAE and the U.S. continue to play together to support peace, stability, and growth across the Middle East.”
