Microsoft will invest $7.9bn in the UAE between 2026 and the end of 2029.

Some $5.5bn of this sum will be used for the "on-going and planned expansion" of Microsoft's AI and cloud infrastructure. The remaining $2.4bn will include planned operating expenses and costs of goods sold.

As revealed in a blog post by Microsoft's vice chair and president, Brad Smith, this brings the company's total commitment under an AI initiative in the country to $15.2bn since the start of 2023.

Since kicking off the initiative and by year-end, Microsoft will have spent just over $7.3bn, including a $1.5bn equity investment in G42, $4.6bn in capex for AI and cloud data centers, and $1.2bn in operating expenses and costs of goods sold.

Smith notes in the blog post that 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" and has since deployed the equivalent of 21,500 Nvidia A100 chips through a combination of A100s, H100s, and H200s. The actual proportions of the chips in that deployment were not stated.

In September, Microsoft also secured an export license under the Trump administration, enabling the shipment of another 60,400 A100-equivalent GPUs, including Nvidia's GB300s.

Microsoft's partnership with G42, signed in April 2024, was backed by assurances to the US and UAE governments that it would guarantee the responsible and secure deployment of AI and compliance with international trade, security, and business integrity standards. The two plan to develop data centers around the world in partnership.

Since then, Microsoft has partnered with the Abu Dhabi government and G42 subsidiary Core42 for the establishment of an AI infrastructure and sovereign cloud offering in the UAE.

Microsoft is also developing a $544 million data center in Dubai with Du.

Microsoft has one cloud region in the UAE, launched in 2019 with three availability zones across Dubai. The company also has cloud regions in Qatar and Israel. In December 2024, the company completed construction of its Saudi Arabia cloud region, set to go live in 2026, and earlier this month announced plans for a cloud region in Kuwait.