Abu Dhabi's AI Power Play
Abu Dhabi's MGX Surpasses Goal with $49 Billion AI Fund, Bolstering Global Tech Influence
Anonymous
Key Points
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MGX backed Anthropic through a $30 billion Series G in February and a subsequent Series H that valued the company near $965 billion.
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MGX was among investors in xAI's $20 billion Series E alongside the Qatar Investment Authority.
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The fundraising drew major institutional and private investors from the Middle East, North America, Asia and Europe.
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MGX is barely two years old, having been launched in March 2024 by Mubadala Investment Company and G42.
Abu Dhabi's MGX has closed its first dedicated AI fund at $49 billion, surpassing its $45 billion target and becoming one of the largest AI-focused investment vehicles ever assembled, according to Financial Post. The fund drew institutional and private investors from the Middle East, North America, Asia, and Europe — and puts MGX among the biggest players in the global race to build out AI infrastructure.
MGX is barely two years old. It launched in March 2024 as a joint venture between Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala and tech conglomerate G42. In just 27 months, it has gone from a startup investment vehicle to a $49 billion fund manager — a pace Private Equity Insights calls unprecedented in the history of private equity.
How MGX Plans to Spend $10 Billion a Year
MGX structures its bets around three pillars: AI infrastructure, semiconductors, and core AI technologies. The goal is to own a piece of every layer of the AI stack — from chips to software. ZAWYA reports the firm is targeting more than $100 billion in total assets under management, with up to $10 billion deployed annually. That pace would make it the largest single private investor in AI globally, according to GuruFocus.
CEO Ahmed Yahia Al Idrissi said MGX invests with "clarity of purpose and disciplined execution." He added that 70 to 80 percent of the portfolio will go into U.S.-based projects, according to Economy Middle East. That U.S. focus acts as a strategic anchor for UAE-American relations — but it has also drawn scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers worried about foreign influence in American tech.
Big Bets on Anthropic, xAI, and OpenAI
MGX has already placed some of the largest AI bets in history. In February 2026, it co-led Anthropic's $30 billion Series G round. It then joined Anthropic's $65 billion Series H in May, which pushed Anthropic's valuation to $965 billion — briefly surpassing OpenAI, according to Bloomberg. MGX is also an investor in Elon Musk's xAI, which raised $20 billion in a Series E in January 2026 alongside the Qatar Investment Authority.
The portfolio now spans roughly 20 companies, including OpenAI, xAI, Anthropic, Databricks, and Isomorphic Labs, according to GuruFocus. Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Mandeep Singh says MGX's entry into Anthropic and xAI at such high valuations shows a "conviction-led" strategy that ignores short-term market swings. Some analysts are less sanguine, warning of an AI bubble fueled by sovereign wealth competition.
Building the Physical Backbone of AI
MGX is not just writing checks for software companies. In October 2025, an MGX-led consortium acquired Aligned Data Centers in a deal valued at $40 billion, according to Business Wire. The firm is targeting more than 8 gigawatts of contracted power capacity by the end of 2026. That is enough electricity to power tens of millions of homes — and a signal that MGX sees energy and compute as the real bottleneck in the AI race.
In September 2024, MGX joined BlackRock, Microsoft, and Global Infrastructure Partners to launch the Global AI Infrastructure Investment Partnership, aiming for $100 billion in total investment potential. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink called 2026 "our first full year as a unified platform" for infrastructure development, according to W.Media. The buildout spans 50-plus data center campuses globally.
A Two-Year-Old Firm Rewriting the Gulf Wealth Playbook
MGX is chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi's Deputy Ruler and National Security Adviser. He has called MGX a "UAE national champion" focused on a future where "technology enables a more prosperous, sustainable, and interconnected world." The firm marks a sharp shift for Gulf sovereign wealth: instead of exporting oil money into outside funds, Abu Dhabi is now pulling in outside capital to amplify its own bets, according to The Edge Singapore.
That shift has not gone unnoticed in Washington. In February 2026, U.S. Representative Sydney Kamlager-Dove requested an investigation into whether the UAE's financial ties influenced U.S. chip export decisions. The concern centers on overlapping relationships between Sheikh Tahnoon's entities — G42, MGX — and U.S. political figures. MGX has not publicly responded to those inquiries, according to agbi.com.
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