$100 Billion Oil Wealth Powers ‘AI Index Strategy,’ Middle Eastern Capital Reshapes Tech Power Dynamics

Coordinated Moves With Global Capital, Strategically Diversified Investments
Emerging as an ‘AI Capital Hub’ Drawing Big Tech Expansion
Rapidly Becoming a New Variable in U.S.–China Tech Rivalry

MGX, backed by Abu Dhabi sovereign capital in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is reshaping the investment landscape by acquiring stakes across major artificial intelligence (AI) companies including OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI. As broad-based investments targeting more than $100 billion in assets under management gain momentum, Middle Eastern capital has moved beyond the role of a passive financial investor to emerge as a central pillar of the global AI ecosystem. Large-scale data center construction in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, combined with intensifying U.S.–China technological competition, is also introducing new shifts in the AI power structure.

Unconventional Multi-Stake Investment Model

According to Bloomberg, MGX is accelerating investments across multiple AI companies with a target of more than $100 billion in assets under management. MGX, a technology-focused investment firm established through a partnership between Abu Dhabi sovereign funds and UAE technology conglomerate G42, was created to respond to the intensifying AI competition following the launch of ChatGPT by OpenAI. The firm is led by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, brother of the Abu Dhabi ruler and UAE national security advisor, and has rapidly expanded its influence using sovereign capital resources and Wall Street networks.

MGX’s strategy differs from traditional venture capital practices in that it seeks to secure stakes across multiple leading generative AI companies with potential public listings, including OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI. Bloomberg described the approach as “an index-style strategy,” noting that “rather than concentrating on a single company, MGX is keeping multiple investment pathways open on the assumption that at least one will emerge as a winner.” Even in Silicon Valley, overlapping investments in competing startups are often avoided, making MGX’s approach highly unusual.

Earlier this month, MGX participated as a joint lead investor alongside JPMorgan Chase in Anthropic’s latest funding round, following earlier equity investments in OpenAI and Elon Musk’s xAI last year. Capital deployment has also been aggressive. Ali Osman, head of AI investments at MGX, projected that “the generative AI market could grow to about $700 billion within the next five years,” adding that OpenAI shows strength in consumer markets, Anthropic in enterprise applications, and xAI in robotics. The assessment is viewed as providing strategic justification for MGX’s diversified investment approach.

The expansion is not limited to software. MGX joined BlackRock in a $40 billion acquisition deal for data center company Aligned Data Centers and participated in the creation of a $30 billion AI infrastructure fund. It also partnered with Silver Lake in a semiconductor transaction involving Altera. The sweeping allocation of capital across AI models, semiconductors, and data centers reflects a strategy to secure influence throughout the global AI supply chain. An MGX representative emphasized that the firm maintains “a strict risk management framework,” investing in assets with clearly defined fundamentals, including market positioning, long-term contracts, and developer credibility.

Wave of Access to Massive Capital

As competition for AI leadership expands beyond algorithm performance to encompass capital, power supply, and infrastructure, global technology firms have increasingly focused their attention on the Middle East, where large-scale computing resources and financial liquidity can be secured simultaneously. With the cost of graphics processing units (GPUs) and data center expansion rising exponentially, sovereign capital with tens of billions of dollars in funding capacity has effectively become a prerequisite. This trend signals not merely financial fundraising but a growing race to secure infrastructure-backed capital alliances.

OpenAI has been among the most proactive. CEO Sam Altman visited the UAE in the second half of last year to discuss raising at least $50 billion in new investment. The funding round is expected to close during the first quarter of this year and, if completed, could push OpenAI’s valuation to as much as $830 billion. Earlier, the company raised $40 billion in March last year led by SoftBank, followed by a $6.6 billion secondary share sale in October.

Anthropic, known for emphasizing AI safety and ethics, has also joined the capital expansion wave. Earlier this year, the company completed a $30 billion Series G round that raised its valuation to $380 billion, more than five times the $61.5 billion valuation recorded during its Series E round in March last year. Major investors included Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC and Abu Dhabi-based MGX. In an internal memo, CEO Dario Amodei wrote that “there is over $100 billion in capital in the Middle East,” adding that “if we want to remain at the technological frontier, access to this capital provides a major advantage.”

The Middle East is emerging not only as an investment source but also as an infrastructure hub. At the international IT conference LEAP 2025, Saudi Arabia announced through state-owned oil company Aramco a $1.5 billion investment in AI chip startup Groq and plans to build the world’s largest AI inference data center in the eastern coastal city of Dammam. UAE-based G42 also detailed plans with Microsoft to invest $15.2 billion by 2029 to establish a 5-gigawatt AI campus in Abu Dhabi. The speed of execution, supported by proactive policies and capital deployment, has effectively positioned Middle Eastern capital as a core funding source in global AI infrastructure expansion.

Potential Shift in Data Sovereignty

Industry observers say that as Middle Eastern capital and infrastructure enter a field previously dominated by the United States and China, the global technology order is entering a phase of transformation. A new variable has emerged between the U.S.-led semiconductor and cloud ecosystem and China’s strategy built on low-cost, large-scale production, creating a more layered competitive environment. The Middle East, combining capital and energy resources, is increasingly viewed as a third axis capable of reshaping long-term market dynamics.

The United States is seeking to reinforce its leadership through cooperation with the region. In May last year, Washington fully repealed the “AI diffusion rule,” which had restricted exports of AI semiconductors to the Middle East. Around the same period, major technology executives—including Elon Musk (xAI), Jensen Huang (Nvidia), and Lisa Su (AMD)—accompanied President Donald Trump on a Middle East tour. During the visit, Nvidia announced it would supply 18,000 units of its GB300 AI servers to the Saudi sovereign fund–owned AI firm Humane Project and provide hundreds of thousands more over the next five years to support the construction of a 500-megawatt data center.

China, meanwhile, has emphasized cost efficiency and supply chain dominance. CNBC cited Rory Green, chief China economist at TS Lombard, as saying that “the technological and AI monopoly the United States has enjoyed has already been broken by China,” adding that within five to ten years, a substantial portion of the world’s population could be operating on Chinese technology stacks rather than American ones. Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind, similarly noted in a separate interview that Chinese AI models lag Western counterparts by only a few months.

The Middle East’s role directly influences this competitive dynamic. Research by market intelligence firm TRG found that the United States leads global AI infrastructure with computing capacity equivalent to 39.7 million Nvidia H100-class chips, followed by the UAE at 23.1 million and Saudi Arabia at 7.2 million. In terms of power capacity, the UAE operates AI data centers totaling 6,400 megawatts and Saudi Arabia 2,400 megawatts, far exceeding China’s 289 megawatts. These figures imply the potential for a shift in data processing sovereignty and AI training hubs. Whether Middle Eastern capital ultimately strengthens U.S. expansion strategies or enables China’s low-cost, large-scale ecosystem to absorb emerging markets could determine the future direction of global AI standards.