Gulf — The Exchange

Infrastructure

The UAE spent years getting permission to buy advanced AI chips. Powering them is the longer wait.

A data centre with its chips installed still cannot switch on without a power transformer, and in the US the order book for those runs about 30 months.

A large grey power transformer in an electrical substation

Chandni Melwani · GCC · Aug 20, 2026

Infrastructure

ADNOC put AI across its whole rig fleet, and the critical data never leaves the country

The software is American. The cloud is Emirati. That pairing is becoming the default shape of Gulf AI deals.

A rendering of a drilling rig connected to a remote operations centre

Chandni Melwani · UAE · Aug 6, 2026

Infrastructure

The UAE spent two years winning access to American AI chips. Now it is renting them out.

For a Gulf bank, the question was never whether sovereign AI was a good idea. It was what it costs, and who has to file the export paperwork. There is finally an answer to both.

Executives from e& UAE and Core42 signing a partnership agreement

Chandni Melwani · UAE · Jul 22, 2026

Policy

Before the UAE won license-free access to US AI chips, the CIA sent a spy to vet G42

The price of US trust turned out to be ripping Chinese telecom and surveillance gear out of the UAE's flagship AI company, and cutting its ties to China.

A grid of dozens of identical box surveillance cameras mounted in rows across a grey brick wall

Chandni Melwani · UAE · Jul 20, 2026

Infrastructure

Microsoft's Copilot is plugging into the UAE's sovereign AI, and the government data stays in the country

The US productivity layer now runs on Gulf sovereign infrastructure, a template for how American software stays inside GCC government AI.

Yellow fibre-optic patch cords crossing between green connectors on a numbered termination panel

Chandni Melwani · UAE · Jul 18, 2026

Policy

The UAE can now buy advanced US AI chips without asking each time — with one condition

The chips under the Gulf's AI build-out are American. Washington just opened the gate, and attached a nine-month condition.

Close-up of a green circuit board with surface-mounted components and gold-toned ribbon connectors, shallow depth of field

Chandni Melwani · UAE · Jul 17, 2026

Infrastructure

A US infrastructure fund just committed up to $2 billion to the systems that keep Gulf data centers running

The money is split between digital infrastructure and district cooling, the two layers a data center in the Saudi heat can't run without.

Dense insulated pipework, valves and pressure vessels inside an industrial plant room, in black and white

Chandni Melwani · Saudi Arabia · Jul 16, 2026

Infrastructure

Saudi Arabia wants to run its own AI. It's turning to Canada's Cohere to build it.

Cohere and PIF-backed Humain will deploy 50MW of AI compute in Saudi Arabia for sovereign and Arabic-language foundation models, marking Cohere's first major international expansion.

A Saudi city skyline at night, high-rise towers lit above dense low-rise blocks and traffic

Chandni Melwani · Saudi Arabia · Jul 10, 2026

Capital

Abu Dhabi MGX Closes $49B AI Fund, Invests in OpenAI, xAI

Abu Dhabi's MGX closed Fund I at $49 billion, exceeding its $45B target. The fund holds positions in OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI, targeting $100B AUM.

Abu Dhabi's high-rise skyline seen from a sand beach across turquoise water

Chandni Melwani · UAE · Jul 8, 2026

Capital

Saudi money takes the lead on an $800M AI infrastructure deal

Together AI closed an $800M Series C at $8.3B valuation, led by Aramco Ventures. The deal cements the GCC-US AI infrastructure capital corridor.

Distillation towers and stacks of an industrial processing plant at sunset, with a construction crane standing beside them against an orange sky

Chandni Melwani · Saudi Arabia · Jul 6, 2026

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