Microsoft Vice President Brad Smith delivered a detailed report on the company’s investments in the United Arab Emirates. The sum of $15.2 billion is distributed over the period from 2023 to 2029, with Smith emphasizing that this is money the corporation is spending in the country, not raising from local sources.
By the end of this year, Microsoft will have spent $7.3 billion in the UAE. The lion’s share consisted of capital investments in data centers for artificial intelligence and cloud technologies — $4.6 billion. Another $1.5 billion was spent on purchasing shares in the Emirati company G42, which has become Microsoft’s key partner in the region. Operating expenses and cost of goods added $1.2 billion to the total. Over the next four years, the corporation will direct an additional $7.9 billion to the emirate — $5.5 billion for infrastructure expansion and $2.4 billion for ongoing operations.
Rare permissions to export next-generation processors
The scale of investment is impressive, but the real value of the project lies in the technologies Microsoft has deployed in the UAE. The company became one of the few to receive licenses to export graphics processors to the emirate under the previous US administration. The Department of Commerce imposed strict requirements for cybersecurity, physical facility protection, and technology transfer controls. Microsoft met all conditions and deployed equipment equivalent to 21,500 Nvidia A100 chips in the country, including the more powerful H100 and H200 models.
Obtaining such permission was difficult, but securing new licenses under the new administration proved even harder. In September, Microsoft became the first company to receive supply authorization under the Trump administration. Requirements became stricter and protective measures more stringent, yet the corporation passed the review. The new licenses cover the equivalent of 60,400 A100 chips, but in reality, these are advanced GB300 processors — Nvidia’s next-generation, which are significantly more potent than its predecessors.
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These processors power AI models from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Microsoft itself across all sectors of the UAE economy. Government agencies, commercial companies, and private users gain access to cutting-edge technologies through the Microsoft-G42 partnership. The results are visible in the numbers — the UAE leads the global ranking in generative AI usage per capita at 59.4 percent. Singapore in second place lags only slightly at 58.6 percent, but all other countries haven’t even reached 50 percent. Brad Smith acknowledges that Microsoft’s main challenge in the emirate is keeping up with growing demand, because there’s simply no need to stimulate the market.
From engineering centers to training one million people
Technological infrastructure requires qualified specialists, and Microsoft is building a complete ecosystem in the UAE. The company’s staff in the emirate comprises 1,000 employees from 40 countries. Among them are about one hundred engineers who not only develop products for Microsoft’s global market but also help local organizations implement cloud technologies and artificial intelligence. The Global Engineering Development Center in Abu Dhabi operates as a full-fledged corporate division, not just a regional office.
The partner ecosystem has tripled in two years and now includes 1,400 companies with 45,000 professionals. These firms implement Microsoft solutions, adapt them to local needs, and create their own products based on cloud infrastructure. Meanwhile, the AI for Good Lab operates in the emirate’s capital, where doctoral-level researchers work on large-scale models and post-training techniques. The lab’s projects extend beyond the UAE and cover the Middle East and Africa, including training language models for low-resource languages of Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Microsoft understands that without mass education, technology will remain a tool for a narrow circle of specialists. A year ago, the corporation set a goal to train one million people in the UAE by the end of 2027, and the program is currently ahead of schedule. To back up these words with numbers, the current situation looks approximately like this:
- 120,000 government employees in federal agencies, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah will acquire AI skills
- 175,000 students will receive training through partnerships with the GEMS school network and emirate education departments
- 39,000 teachers will master teaching methods using artificial intelligence
This week in Dubai, Microsoft will announce an expansion of educational initiatives, though details have not yet been disclosed. The latest real estate news UAE today shows how the technology boom is transforming the market — demand for office space in tech zones is growing, and inheriting real estate issues are becoming more relevant for families of foreign specialists who are tying their careers to the emirate for the long term.
Trust as the foundation for technological partnership
Brad Smith highlights three key success factors for the project: technology, personnel, and trust. The last element proved critically crucial for obtaining export licenses and building a long-term partnership. Microsoft and G42 created an intergovernmental assurance agreement—the first such document between two private companies. Its development involved the participation of the US and UAE governments, as well as members of both parties in Congress. The agreement establishes standards for cybersecurity, export control, data protection, and responsible AI application, with requirements that meet or exceed American norms.
The Responsible AI Future Fund, founded by G42, Microsoft, and Mohamed bin Zayed University, promotes ethical principles for the Middle East and developing countries. The organization takes cultural diversity into account when formulating recommendations, because universal Western approaches don’t always work in other regions.
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Smith brought a delegation from Seattle to Abu Dhabi — including a former state governor and representatives from universities, medical centers, nonprofit organizations, and sports organizations. The visit aims to deepen ties between regions through the exchange of experience in education, healthcare, and urban development. Microsoft is building relationships not only at the corporate level but also through people-to-people connections, which strengthen the foundation for long-term cooperation between the US and UAE.
