How Gulf Funds Are Buying The Backbone Of AI
How Gulf Funds Are Buying The Backbone Of AI
https://www.forbes.com/sites/daraabasiita/2026/06/17/how-gulf-funds-are-buying-the-backbone-of-ai/
Publish Date: 2026-06-17 18:29:00
Source Domain: www.forbes.com
Sovereign funds are buying the data centres, power and debt beneath AI, a strategy that looks patient but concentrates risk on a single thesis.
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Sovereign wealth funds deployed about $66 billion into artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure during 2025, on figures from Global SWF’s annual report reported by Gulf News, which appeared in January 2026, in a year when their combined assets reached a record $15 trillion. Gulf funds led by a wide margin. The seven largest accounted for 43% of all sovereign capital invested globally, some $126 billion across every sector, the highest share the data firm has recorded. Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala alone put $12.9 billion into AI and digital deals.
The headline figure matters less than the direction of travel. These funds have moved past buying shares in Nvidia or Microsoft and waiting for them to rise. They have gone upstream, into the concrete and copper that AI actually runs on. The clearest example came in October 2025, when a consortium of BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners, Abu Dhabi’s MGX and the AI Infrastructure Partnership agreed to acquire Aligned Data Centers, in a deal that implied an enterprise value of about $40 billion and covered more than 50 campuses across the Americas, according to the consortium’s announcement. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund committed $36.2 billion across AI-related transactions over the year, much of it tied to one large acquisition.
From passive holder to active builder
The shift reflects a calculation about where the safer money sits. Picking which AI model wins, or whether one chipmaker holds off another, is a hard bet. Owning the data centres, fibre and power that every model needs is a steadier one, since compute demand grows whoever comes out on top. Gulf states have an additional motive. With oil revenue less central to their futures than it once was, AI infrastructure offers both a financial return and a measure of technological standing.
The momentum carried…
