Microsoft to invest over $15 billion in UAE, secures U.S. export licenses for advanced AI chips

Microsoft Corporation has announced it will invest more than $15.2 billion in the United Arab Emirates over the next seven years, primarily focused on expanding artificial-intelligence (AI) and cloud data-centre infrastructure in the region. The announcement was made during the ADIPEC energy conference in Abu Dhabi by vice-chair and president Brad Smith, who said the largest share of the investment—looking both backward and forward—is dedicated to AI data centres. The company also confirmed it has secured export licences from U.S. authorities to ship advanced graphics-processing units (GPUs) from NVIDIA Corporation to these UAE facilities, marking a significant shift in U.S. export-control policy for cutting-edge computing hardware.

Microsoft has already invested around $7.3 billion in the UAE since 2023, with a further $7.9 billion planned through 2029 to reach a total of about $15.2 billion. Smith emphasised that the focus is expanding AI compute capacity in the UAE to meet rising global demand for AI workloads. The export licences allow Microsoft to import the equivalent of 21,500 NVIDIA A100-class GPUs under prior approvals and up to another 60,400 units under recent licences covering the GB300 series, which are among the most advanced chips available.

The UAE has positioned itself aggressively as a future global AI hub, investing heavily in data-centre infrastructure and strengthening its partnership with Washington to secure access to leading U.S. technology. Analysts say Microsoft’s commitment confirms AWS-scale cloud providers and hyperscalers are shifting major AI infrastructure builds to the Gulf and Middle East region. “This is clearly a strong endorsement of Microsoft’s compute capabilities to deliver at this scale,” said an industry analyst.

Microsoft’s investment does not include the Stargate UAE initiative, a separate multi-gigawatt AI campus announced in collaboration with UAE’s G42 and announced during the Gulf trip of U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this year. Stargate remains a distinct project outside Microsoft’s disclosed $15.2 billion commitment.

Security and geopolitics remain key considerations. The deal will require UAE partners to meet stringent U.S. compliance standards, controlling chip access and preventing diversion of sensitive technology. Microsoft has taken a seat on the board of UAE-based AI firm G42, in which it invested $1.5 billion, to support alignment with U.S. export-compliance rights.

The agreement comes as Microsoft intensifies its AI infrastructure build-out globally. With worldwide demand for AI training and inference surging, Microsoft is accelerating investment in cloud and AI data-centre capacity. The UAE expansion marks the company’s largest planned regional investment outside of the U.S. And for the UAE, the deal supports its ambition to transform into a major AI computing centre, leveraging U.S. giant Microsoft’s technology and expertise.