G42, an Abu Dhabi-based artificial intelligence firm that was founded roughly eight years ago to kickstart the emirate's tech ambitions, is looking for a long-term way to keep top-tier semiconductors flowing. People familiar with the matter say the firm has quietly discussed the possibility of selling a majority stake to U.S. companies. The firm can currently buy advanced AI chips without a U.S. license until around April 2027, and it needs to adjust its corporate setup to maintain access after that window.
Executives are considering several approaches, according to people in the know: such as bringing in a U.S. firm to hold a controlling stake or creating a brand-new U.S. entity. No decision has been made, and a G42 representative declined to comment. Existing investors include Silver Lake, Microsoft Corp., and Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Investment Co., which manages about $385 billion. Earlier this week, Bloomberg reported that G42 has been in preliminary discussions with prospective investors to raise billions of dollars.
G42 runs businesses across cloud services, data centers, and AI applications, and it works with some of the largest tech names globally. It is developing a 5 gigawatt UAE-US AI Campus in Abu Dhabi that will use Nvidia Corp. semiconductors. Sheikh Tahnoon is widely seen as one of the most influential dealmakers, with a broad constellation of companies and relationships across global business and finance.
Keeping a pipeline to the most advanced chips beyond the near term would strengthen both G42 and Abu Dhabi's AI goals. The UAE has been deepening ties with the U.S., and despite regional turmoil, a senior official said the country expects to beat the timetable for investing $1.4 trillion in America. In July, Minister of Foreign Trade Thani Al Zeyoudi told Bloomberg News that steps by the Trump administration to relax export limits on the UAE would support that push.
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He also pushed back on arguments from some national security voices in Washington that supplying the UAE with high-end chips could give China a back door to the tech or slow the U.S. AI rollout. Beyond G42, MGX names Mubadala and G42 among its founding partners and plans to invest up to $10 billion in AI annually. For everyday investors, how G42 restructures could influence which U.S. companies end up with more say over chip supply and who stands to benefit from projects like that 5 gigawatt campus, which can ripple through suppliers, partners, and regional growth stories you already track.
