Microsoft plans to invest more than $10 billion in the UAE, Saudi Arabia , Qatar and Kuwait by 2030, including cloud computing infrastructure, artificial intelligence and expanding the company’s operations in the region.
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The company did not disclose the distribution of investments among the four countries or the projects that would be directed to them, as Smith attributed this to factors including security considerations.
Digital expansion
The plan comes at a time when Gulf states are pouring billions of dollars into artificial intelligence as they seek to develop global technology hubs and diversify their economies away from oil and gas.
The region is banking on the availability of land and energy to attract cloud computing giants, including Microsoft, but the sector faces challenges including access to advanced chips and the repercussions of war on digital infrastructure.
Smith said that Microsoft maintained all the investments it had planned before the outbreak of war on February 28, and even added other investments to them, describing the spending program as intensive.
The company is placing enhancing digital resilience at the heart of its Gulf strategy, after data centers in the region were attacked during the war, including Amazon Web Services facilities in Bahrain and the UAE, according to Reuters.
Microsoft is working with Gulf countries in the areas of risk preparedness and protection of critical data, and has provided its local partners with digital resilience assessments since the first week of the war.
The company also plans to invest more than $400 million in submarine and terrestrial connectivity networks in the Middle East by 2030, with the aim of strengthening the region’s communications infrastructure and digital connectivity.
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