Need to Know

In a letter to the US-UAE Business Council, Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba said the UAE is exceeding first-year targets under its $1.4 trillion investment framework and keeping its commitments to secure American technology, even as regional conflict continues.

Microsoft's UAE investment has grown from a $1.5B stake in G42 to $15.2B, with $2B more now committed across the Gulf.

Mubadala-backed GlobalFoundries was selected to operate two new semiconductor fabs in Malta, New York, as part of a $21 billion US-Japan deal expected to support about 27,000 construction and ecosystem jobs.

Apollo, with about $1 trillion in assets under management, will invest over $1 billion for a 10% minority stake in Mubadala Capital, with $5 billion more committed to its strategies.

Altair-1, the UAE's first homegrown AI-enabled Earth observation satellite, launched aboard a SpaceX rocket, marking the start of Orbitworks' planned 10-satellite constellation.

Abu Dhabi's CNTXT AI opened its first US office in Silicon Valley, backed by more than $300 million in committed revenue and plans to hire 15 to 25 people in its first year.

Mubadala and San Francisco-based Together AI partnered to expand open-source AI infrastructure in the UAE, with Together AI opening a new office in Abu Dhabi.

Scale AI is opening its first UAE office at Dubai International Financial Centre, part of a broader push to build sovereign AI capacity across the Gulf.

Abu Dhabi's Projects and Infrastructure Centre signed an agreement with The Boring Company to explore underground transport and utility tunnels, extending the firm's UAE work beyond Dubai.

Mubadala Bio and Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly announced a strategic collaboration to localize packaging and logistics of Lilly's GLP-1 medicines at a 125,000-square-meter site in Abu Dhabi's KEZAD.

Robinhood has received authorization from the Dubai Financial Services Authority to establish its regional headquarters at DIFC, giving MENA investors access to 10 DFSA-approved asset classes on a regulated platform launching in 2027.

Boston-based private equity firm Advent, with $109 billion in assets under management, opened its first permanent regional office in ADGM, deepening a long-standing partnership with the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

Shorooq and Presight joined Maven Robotics' $100 million Series A, backing the California company's AI-powered robots for logistics and manufacturing.

State Street will open an Al Ain operations center in 2027, adding 300 financial services jobs in Abu Dhabi over three years.

Mubadala-backed Whoop launched an Arabic-language app, part of a broader UAE and Gulf expansion that includes a dedicated UAE office.