Microsoft Backs Massive AI Push in UAE, Raising Security Concerns

Microsoft is backing a massive AI push in the UAE, building the first stage of a 5-gigawatt US-UAE AI campus using Nvidia GPUs in partnership with G42, a project described as part of a broader effort to secure AI capacity across the region. The piece notes that Microsoft shipped the equivalent of 21,500 Nvidia A100 GPUs during Joe Biden’s tenure and that the Trump administration granted a license to export an additional 60,400 equivalent units, illustrating the scale of the technology transfer involved.

It cites security concerns from critics such as Janet Egan of the Center for a New American Security, who says the UAE is a complex partner due to its authoritarian regime and close ties with China on security issues. The Stargate UAE initiative, a 1 gigawatt compute cluster, is intended as part of a planned 5 gigawatt campus, with the first phase—a 200 megawatt facility—set to be up and running next year.

Microsoft has reportedly invested more than $7.3 billion in the UAE between 2023 and the end of 2025, with a further planned investment of $15.2 billion by the end of 2029, according to Microsoft’s November 3 blog post. The article notes that the Intergovernmental Assurance Agreement framework guides cybersecurity, physical security, export controls and know-your-customer practices in the UAE deal.

According to the wording of the piece, security measures and restrictions have drawn scrutiny from lawmakers in the United States, even as the collaboration aims to provide access to advanced AI models from multiple providers.