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.

While Saudi Arabia leads the Gulf in oil production, it’s also the region’s biggest banker.

The kingdom hosts 10 of the 30 largest lenders in the Middle East and North Africa, with a combined market value of $269 billion, according to Forbes’ annual ranking.

Riyadh-based Al Rajhi Bank was the region’s most valuable bank, with a market capitalization of $106 billion. Trailing Saudi Arabia in the rankings were the UAE in second place with seven banks valued at $153 billion, followed by Qatar in third place with six banks worth $77 billion.

Kuwait has two banks on the Forbes list with a combined worth of $68 billion, while Morocco’s three banks have a market value of $24 billion.

U.S. President Donald Trump gave a warm reception to UAE power broker Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed at the White House with dinner and a broad review of business and strategic ties between the two allies.

Sheikh Tahnoon, who is the UAE’s National Security Advisor, Chairman of its biggest sovereign wealth fund and brother to President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, led an Emirati delegation on Tuesday that dined with Trump, Vice President JD Vance and other top administration officials.

Accompanied by Mubadala CEO Khaldoon Al Mubarak, ADNOC CEO and UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, and UAE Ambassador to the U.S. Yousef Al Otaiba, Sheikh Tahnoon also met with cabinet members including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“Tonight, in the White House, I warmly welcomed UAE National Security Adviser H.H. Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan to meetings and a dinner with many notable, senior U.S. officials,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social media platform. “The evening demonstrated the long-standing ties and bonds of friendship between our countries.”

Sheikh Tahnoon said in a post on X that the talks focused on the UAE’s “long-term strategic partnership” with the U.S., as well as strengthening economic ties “by accelerating investments in artificial intelligence, advanced technology, infrastructure, energy and health care.”

During his U.S. visit, Sheikh Tahnoon also planned to meet some of the country’s top tech leaders, including Tesla’s Elon Musk, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Oracle’s Larry Ellison, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella and Palantir’s Alex Karp, Semafor reported.

While the Emirati delegation was at the White House, the government in Abu Dhabi announced the signing of an agreement with Microsoft and UAE tech company Core42 to improve the efficiency of digital services.

​​Zapp, a British grocery delivery startup, plans to launch in Dubai this year, entering an already crowded and competitive Middle Eastern market.

The company, which launched during the pandemic, saw valuations drop as workers returned to office and inflation hit delivery spending.

“We are always looking for opportunities to grow our business and are considering launching in the region as early as this year,” a Zapp spokesperson said in a statement to Bloomberg.

Zapp says it’s rebounding by focusing on high-end goods, generating over $100 million in U.K. sales in 2024 through partnerships with brands like LVMH and Fortnum & Mason, the news agency said.

Zapp’s entrance to the market is the latest of series in a highly competitive market for delivery companies. Keeta, the international arm of China’s Meituan, has captured 10% of Saudi Arabia’s food delivery market just four months after launch.

Talabat, the Middle East branch of Germany’s Delivery Hero, raised $2 billion in December through an IPO on the Dubai Financial Market. The company acquired full control of Instashop from Delivery Hero two weeks ago for $32 million.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance welcomed Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, the UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Chief Executive of ADNOC, to the White House on Monday as the two countries sought to add heft to their growing economic ties.

Al Jaber and UAE Ambassador to the U.S. Yousef Al Otaiba were part of a top-ranking Emirati delegation led by National Security Adviser Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed that fanned out in the presidential mansion for a series of meetings with senior Trump administration officials.

The meeting with Vance was arranged “to discuss deepening UAE-U.S. collaboration on supporting energy investment and abundance, technological leadership, and unleashing unprecedented economic growth,” the UAE Embassy said in a post on X.

On the agenda this week for Sheikh Tahnoon, Chairman of Abu Dhabi-owned International Holding Co. and sovereign wealth funds ADIA and ADQ, are meetings with Tesla’s Elon Musk, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, and Oracle’s Larry Ellison, Semafor reports.

Also scheduled to meet Sheikh Tahnoon are Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, BlackRock’s Larry Fink, and Palantir’s Alex Karp, the news outlet said.

Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, the UAE’s National Security Adviser and one of the country’s most prominent business leaders, starts a visit to the U.S. on Monday with both political and economic dimensions.

Amid concern about tightening restrictions on access to advanced U.S. technology, Sheikh Tahnoon is setting up meetings with a series of top Trump administration officials at the White House, according to a statement from the Abu Dhabi Media Office.

“The meetings will focus on advancing economic and technology ties between the two countries,” the statement said.

“Discussions will also cover ongoing regional challenges and strengthening the decades-long U.S.-UAE strategic partnership.”

The meetings are likely to include Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, Bloomberg reported. Whether he will meet with President Donald Trump is unclear.

Sheikh Tahnoon, the brother of UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, serves as Chairman of Abu Dhabi’s biggest investors, including the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, ADQ and International Holding Co. He also heads the boards of G42, the government-backed artificial intelligence company, and tech investment fund MGX.

A central part of Sheikh Tahnoon’s agenda in Washington will be to press for greater access to Nvidia’s advanced semiconductor chips that are central to development of AI technology, the news agency reported.

MGX is one of the major backers – along with SoftBank, OpenAI, and Oracle – of a $100 billion AI infrastructure venture that Trump unveiled during his first week in office.

Saudi Arabia is planning to bring the sparkle of Mediterranean marinas to its Red Sea coast, seeking counsel from the Principality of Monaco as it attempts to grow its yachting sector.

The Saudi Red Sea Authority has already issued 29 tourism licenses for yacht chartering and marina operations for its 1,800km coastline, which includes more than 1,000 islands and 150 pristine beaches.

Now it has signed agreements with the Yacht Club de Monaco and the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation to help develop the sector.

Monaco, a minuscule tax haven on the French Riviera, is famous for attracting gigantic super yachts – and their billionaire owners – to its iconic Port Hercule, the glittering backdrop to one of the world’s most famous F1 circuits.

Saudi’s ambition is to attract 250,000 visitors from yacht tourism by 2030, generating $2.9 billion and creating 28,000 jobs. 

Having set leadership in the emerging realm of digital assets as a national goal, the UAE is extending its embrace of Binance, the world’s biggest crypto exchange.

MGX, the tech investment fund created by Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala sovereign wealth fund and G42 artificial intelligence firm, announced on Wednesday that it has invested $2 billion in the company, which has about 1,000 employees working in Dubai.

When Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ, pleaded guilty to U.S. money laundering charges last year and spent several months in prison, he was replaced as CEO by Richard Teng, previously head of Abu Dhabi’s Financial Services Authority,

“MGX’s investment in Binance reflects our commitment to advancing blockchain’s transformative potential for digital finance,” Ahmed Yahia, Managing Director and CEO of MGX, said in a statement.

MGX, which was established a year ago, has also invested in OpenAI and Elon Musk’s xAI. The firm is chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, the UAE’s national security adviser, who is also Chairman of Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth funds ADQ and ADIA.

The Dubai Financial Services Authority, meanwhile, announced that San Francisco-based crypto payments developer Ripple Labs received regulatory approval to operate in the emirate.

“As the Middle East, Africa and South Asia’s leading global financial center, DIFC is proud to support forward-thinking companies like Ripple as they shape the future of finance and accelerate the adoption of blockchain technology in the payments industry,” DIFC Authority CEO Arif Amiri said.