Microsoft to Invest $15.2 Billion in UAE AI and Cloud Expansion

Microsoft will invest $15.2 billion in the United Arab Emirates between 2023 and 2029, according to a company announcement. The plan includes $7.9 billion in new spending from 2026 to 2029, with $5.5 billion allocated for AI and cloud infrastructure and $2.4 billion for operating expenses.

The company said it has received U.S. Commerce Department licenses to export advanced Nvidia GPUs to the UAE. These approvals allow Microsoft to ship the equivalent of 60,400 A100-class chips, including Nvidia’s GB300 processors, in addition to 21,500 GPUs already deployed in the country. The hardware supports AI services from OpenAI, Anthropic, open-source providers, and Microsoft.

Microsoft’s investment builds on its partnership with G42, the UAE’s sovereign AI firm, which includes a $1.5 billion equity stake. The company is using the new infrastructure to expand its data center capacity and provide regional access to AI models. It also plans to train one million UAE residents in digital and AI skills by 2027.

Microsoft currently employs about 1,000 engineers in the UAE and operates an AI for Good Lab and a Global Engineering Development Center in Abu Dhabi. The company said the expansion will strengthen its regional cloud operations and support government and private sector AI adoption.