Abu Dhabi’s AI ambitions are about to get louder.
Lunate — one of the region’s fastest-rising investment platforms — is in advanced talks to channel up to $1 billion into MGX, the state-backed AI investor rapidly becoming a global force, according to people familiar with the matter.
The discussions are ongoing, and nothing has been finalized, but the potential scale of the deal underscores how aggressively the UAE is positioning itself at the center of the world’s AI infrastructure build-out.
A Growing AI Engine in the Gulf
MGX, formed last year as a joint venture between G42 and Mubadala, has quickly evolved into a strategic command center for the UAE’s AI push. The firm has already placed bets on frontier model developers and is partnering with global heavyweights to accelerate data-center and energy-infrastructure expansion.
Its playbook is straightforward but bold: build enough compute, capital, and global partnerships to anchor the Middle East as a long-term AI superpower. Any sizable injection from Lunate would supercharge that strategy.
Why Lunate Is Stepping In
Lunate, barely two years old, has emerged as one of Abu Dhabi’s most active capital engines. It deploys money through themed funds, niche deals, and partnerships with the world’s largest asset managers, while also managing capital for other investors.
The firm has already moved billions across private markets and tech — including exposure to OpenAI — and has established relationships with BlackRock, CVC, Brookfield, and others. A tie-up with MGX would align two of Abu Dhabi’s most strategically coordinated financial arms.
For a region racing to establish sovereign leverage in AI, that alignment matters.
MGX’s Global Moves Add Momentum
MGX is not sitting still. It has taken positions in OpenAI and Elon Musk’s xAI, while teaming up with Microsoft and BlackRock on a sweeping multibillion-dollar plan to build out next-gen compute and data-warehouse infrastructure.
These deals have made MGX one of the most closely watched AI financiers outside the United States — a rare new player with both geopolitical backing and a willingness to spend at scale.
With AI infrastructure spending expected to balloon over the next decade, MGX sees an opportunity to secure long-term influence across the global tech supply chain.
A Capital Race With Global Stakes
Abu Dhabi’s broader strategy is clear: take a controlling position in AI’s foundation layers — chips, compute, energy, and model alliances — before demand and geopolitics lock the door.
If Lunate moves forward with the potential $1 billion allocation, it would mark one of the firm’s largest AI-focused commitments yet and further consolidate the emirate’s influence across the sector.
Industry analysts say this kind of internal regional coordination between investment vehicles is precisely how Abu Dhabi is speeding ahead of rival sovereign-capital ecosystems.
What to Watch Next
People familiar with the matter say the structure of Lunate’s investment is still being finalized, and the deal could shift as discussions continue. MGX and Lunate both declined to comment.
But the signal is unmistakable: the UAE is accelerating its bid to build an AI powerhouse — backed by deep capital, tightly aligned institutions, and a willingness to move fast while the rest of the world debates regulation and compute shortages.
If completed, Lunate’s investment would cement MGX as one of the most heavily funded AI investors in the world — and position Abu Dhabi even closer to the epicenter of the global AI race.