Trump heads home after sewing up $200 billion in UAE deals

President Donald Trump wrapped up his four-day tour of the Gulf with a pomp-filled visit to the UAE, locking in some $200 billion in contracts that starts to fulfill the UAE’s pledge to spend $1.4 trillion in the U.S. over the next decade. He took off for Washington in the early afternoon.

With attention focused on the U.S. leader’s commitment to ease restrictions on selling advanced AI semiconductor chips to the UAE and Saudi Arabia, the two countries signed an agreement to build an AI development campus in Abu Dhabi that would be the world’s largest outside the U.S.

Though specifics on the AI tech purchases were not disclosed, Trump and Sheikh Mohamed met together with Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, which is the largest maker of the most advanced chips.

“We’re making great progress for the $1.4 trillion that the UAE has announced that it intends to spend in the United States over the next couple of years,” Trump told the UAE-U.S. Business Forum in an address early today. “This will generate billions and billions of dollars in business and accelerate the UAE plans to become a really major player in artificial intelligence.”

Trump also met with Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, the UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and CEO of ADNOC, at the business summit.

Among the deals were a $14.5 billion commitment from Etihad Airways for the purchase of 28 Boeing aircraft and a $60 billion oil and gas deal with ADNOC involving ExxonMobil, Occidental Petroleum, and EOG Resources. UAE officials said today the country will increase the value of its energy investments in the U.S. to $440 billion over the next 10 years.

Before returning to Washington, Trump visited the Abrahamic Family House on Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat Island, the monumental prayer compound built by the UAE that contains a mosque, a church and a synagogue.

Gliding into President Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed’s Qasr Al Watan palace grounds on Thursday night for a state dinner, Trump’s motorcade was flanked by mounted camels to the right and Arabian stallions to the left, The Circuit’s Omnia Al Desoukie reports from Abu Dhabi.

The Emirati and American leaders then strode together through the palace’s grand marble halls, where Emirati children waved flags while the national anthems of both countries were played. President Trump was presented by Sheikh Mohammed with the Order of Zayed, the country’s highest civilian award, which was also given to former U.S. President George W. Bush in 2008.

Among the guests at the state dinner were Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed; UAE Vice President; Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi; Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, UAE National Security Adviser; Sheikh Abdallah bin Zayed, the UAE Foreign Minister; and Yousef Al Otaiba, the UAE Ambassador to the U.S.

Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Managing Director and Group CEO of the Mubadala sovereign wealth fund, and Peng Xiao, CEO of AI tech company G42 were also present.

Senior U.S. officials at the state dinner included U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Martina Strong, U.S. Ambassador to the UAE.

Mubadala assets climb to $327 billion amid AI, credit push

Mubadala Investment Co., Abu Dhabi’s second-largest sovereign wealth fund, grew more than 9% last year, with assets under management reaching $327 billion.

In a 2024 earnings statement released today, Mubadala cited its co-founding of the MGX tech fund specializing in AI investments as a highlight of the year’s activities.

Also notable were its establishment of satellite company Space 42 through a merger, co-investments in real estate with Aldar Properties, and private credit lending in partnership with Apollo, Goldman Sachs, Carlyle and other U.S. money managers.

“Our portfolio has been constructed to navigate market cycles and scale future-focused sectors – from AI and clean energy to life sciences, semiconductors, and advanced manufacturing,” Group CEO Khaldoon Al Mubarak said.

The Daily Circuit: UAE amps up AI + PIF’s $2B bond issue

👋 Hello from the Middle East!

In the Daily Circuit today, we report on at the PIF’s Islamic bond issue that could net $2 billion, Mubadala CEO Khaldoon Al Mubarak’s appearance at the Goldman Sachs retreat in Abu Dhabi, Khazna’s new UAE data centers and a memorial mass for Pope Francis in Dubai. But first, corporate tech experts from around the world are in the UAE for AI Week.

The UAE is amping up its use of artificial intelligence in all aspects of government.

Speaking at Dubai’s AI Retreat 2025 on Sunday, Omar Al Olama, the UAE’s Minister of State for AI, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications, said all departments will be evaluated on the effectiveness of how they use the emerging technology, The National reports.

“We don’t want to leverage artificial intelligence just for the sake of AI,” Al Olama said. “We want to ensure that the application actually improves the quality of life of citizens in the UAE and in Dubai specifically.

The minister spoke during the AI event’s opening session at Dubai’s Museum of the Future. The retreat brings together more than 1,000 AI experts, policymakers, and executives from companies including Microsoft, Meta, Google and IBM

Among those participating in the week’s activities are Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Ruler of Dubai and UAE Prime Minister and Mohammad bin Abdullah Al Gergawi, UAE Minister of Cabinet Affairs and Managing Director of the Dubai Future Foundation.

Delegations from more than 100 countries have come to the city for the deep dive into AI technology.

Welcome to the Daily Circuit. Kindly let us know your thoughts and feedback by replying to this newsletter or emailing us at [email protected]. 

China is deepening its nuclear ties with the GCC by signing new cooperation deals with Saudi Arabia just days after the kingdom reached a similar energy agreement with the United States. Riyadh and Beijing inked the deal at a China-GCC nuclear technology forum in Chengdu, according to China’s state-run Global Times. The deal covers nuclear safety, security, non-proliferation, and emergency response. GCC officials say they aim to leverage China’s expertise to strengthen energy security and accelerate sustainable development, Arabian Gulf Business Insight reports, which enhances China’s influence in the Gulf, following earlier agreements with the UAE and joint resource exploration with the kingdom. 

ALL THAT GLITTERS

The price of gold surged to $3,500 an ounce on Tuesday, as investors continued to pile into the safe-haven commodity amid concerns about U.S. President Donald Trump’s economic agenda. Trump’s latest threats against Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and calls for immediate interest rate cuts saw the precious metal hit a record level in intraday trading, before retreating slightly. Gold has risen about 28% since Trump’s inauguration in January. But there is no silver lining for the jewelers in Dubai’s famed Gold Souk, where the main trade is 22-karat gold jewelry for weddings and family investment. “There are no potential customers nowadays because of the gold prices,” Fahad Khan, a sales representative at retailer Damas Jewellery, told Reuters. Buyers are turning instead to lab-grown diamonds to add a bit of bling to their wedding ensembles.

📷 Photo of the Day

Musk’s xAI, Nvidia join with MGX in artificial intelligence fund

The UAE’s biggest tech firms are capitalizing on White House support to tighten partnerships with America’s leaders in the booming industry of artificial intelligence.

A consortium created last year by Abu Dhabi investment fund MGX, Microsoft and BlackRock to finance power-hungry AI data centers welcomed chipmaker Nvidia and Elon Musk’s xAI to the group on Wednesday.

Expansion of the top-level venture came amid the Washington visit by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, the UAE National Security Advisor and Chairman of MGX and a constellation of other tech companies, who dined at the White House this week with President Donald Trump.

Sheikh Tahnoon, who held a meeting with Musk through a video feed on Wednesday, has been accompanied through the trip by Khaldoon Al Mubarak, the MGX Vice Chairman and CEO of the Mubadala sovereign wealth fund. Also on the visit is Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, CEO of the ADNOC national oil company and the UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology. Peng Xiao, CEO of the Abu Dhabi-based AI company G42, joined the call with Musk.

Among the other meetings in his U.S. rounds, Sheikh Tahnoon said he “explored opportunities for collaboration and investment” with Oracle’s Larry Ellison.

ADQ, meanwhile, another Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon, agreed to invest a combined $5 billion in a partnership with U.S-based Energy Capital Partners to build power stations for data centers and AI projects – with the investment eventually reaching $25 billion.

The announcement came as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told the company’s GTC conference in San Jose, Calif., that the industry is preparing for a massive leap in building data centers and chip manufacturing plants with accompanying energy demand.

“Over the next several years, we’re going to be building giant AI factories,” he said. Not normal AI factories … ones you see from space,” Huang said.

Mubadala is ‘zooming in’ on AI, CEO Khaldoon Al Mubarak tells Milken

After two days of onstage chats with some of the legion of friends he’s cultivated and mentored in the investment world, Michael Milken turned to Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Managing Director and Group CEO of Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala sovereign wealth fund and someone he’s coached for 20 years, for Friday’s conference finale.

Sitting opposite each other on white swivel chairs before the packed ballroom, the 78-year-old Wall Street guru quizzed 49-year-old Al Mubarak on how the $330 billion fund makes investment decisions.

“Right now, when it comes to the future of the world, the sectors that are going to be growing and prospering – AI, technology, financial services, life sciences, health services – these are the sectors that we’re going to be zooming in on,” Al Mubarak said. “We are… making sure we have the right framework in place to allow our businesses to grow and scale up, but allow also the world to come here and grow and scale up here.”

The day’s events opened with a brief greeting from U.S. Ambassador to the UAE Martina Strong, who invoked the $1.5 billion investment that Microsoft made this year in Abu Dhabi’s G42 artificial intelligence firm. “The United States and the UAE are working together for a very solid platform of shared objectives, mutual trust and long-standing friendships that we have built up over the past five decades.”

Among the prominent figures drawn to Abu Dhabi was John Kerry, the former U.S. Senator and White House Climate Envoy, who was chatting in the lobby with California-based investor Thomas Steyer, founder of Farillon Capital, which manages $20 billion in assets.

Speaking on the stage at a panel about revamping cities for the future, U.S. Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti, the former Mayor of Los Angeles, said urban policymakers need to figure out how to protect their people and provide them with better lives. “It’s the same in New Delhi as it is in Los Angeles,” he said. “Good mayors borrow, great mayors steal from other mayors. You would be surprised about what risks people will take.”

Dr. Jill Biden, First Lady of the United States, told a packed ballroom on Thursday that she’s proud of the progress made by the Biden administration in advancing medical care and education about women’s health after years of neglect. “I remember going to my husband and saying, ‘Joe, this can’t go on.’”

Among the showcase activities during the Milken Summit was interviewing and whittling down the list of competing startups for the annual $1 million Milken-Motsepe Fintech Prize, which aims to expand access to capital and financial services for small businesses in emerging and frontier markets. Nominees made pitches this week in hopes of competing in the final round taking place at the Milken Institute’s flagship Beverly Hills conference in May, where the prize will be presented.

In an interview with The Circuit, Margaret O’Connor, the chairperson of Mauritius-based Launch Africa and a judge for the Milken-Motsepe award, said the program is a major incentive for the continent’s young companies.

“I actually have goosebumps because we’re at a moment in time where we’re building systems to create systematic connectivity,” O’Connor said. ”The GCC needs African talent – AI talent and entrepreneurial talent and business talent. GCC also needs access to African markets [while] African entrepreneurs need access to GCC markets and capital.”

G42 board plots AI strategy with Microsoft’s Smith at the table

G42, the Abu Dhabi technology firm backed by the emirate’s sovereign wealth and Microsoft, is cooking up plans for its new investments in artificial intelligence next year.

At a board meeting on Thursday led by G42 Chairman Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, who is also the UAE’s Deputy Ruler and National Security Advisor as well as Chairman of ADIA and International Holding Co., the company worked out its growth strategy for 2025.

Among those around the board table were Mubadala CEO Khaldoon Al Mubarak, G42 CEO Xiao Peng, G42 Group Counsel Marty Edelman, Microsoft President and Vice Chairman Brad Smith, and Bridgewater Associates Founder Ray Dalio, Etisalat Chairman Jassem Al Zaabi and Silver Lake Technology CEO Egon Durban.

“We emphasized the Group’s crucial role in shaping the future of global technology and making innovation a cornerstone for a more prosperous future globally,” Sheikh Tahnoon said in an Instagram post.

As G42 grows, Saudi Arabia is planning a new AI initiative with as much as $100 billion in backing as it seeks to compete with the UAE, Bloomberg reports. A tech hub being built by the Saudi Public Investment Fund and Google may serve as the starting point for the project, the news agency said.