The Abu Dhabi investor that's funding AI while trying to save TikTok — with help from Trump

As artificial intelligence startups rise progressively ample sums of currency to money their swelling infrastructure needs, they're turning to strategical partners similar Nvidia and large task firms specified arsenic Thrive Capital, Sequoia and Andreessen Horowitz.

But 1 large financier has a sanction that's little acquainted successful the satellite of tech investing: MGX.

Backed by Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealthiness money and launched successful March 2024, MGX has emerged arsenic a cardinal root of superior arsenic hyperscalers Microsoft, Meta and Google, and startups similar OpenAI contention to physique retired the tremendous computing powerfulness needed to conscionable expected AI demand.

In September, MGX made different large splash, joining Oracle and Silver Lake successful President Donald Trump's propulsion to get TikTok nether U.S. control.

And connected Wednesday, MGX was backmost successful the quality arsenic portion of different elephantine AI deal. MGX is joining investors including Nvidia, Microsoft, BlackRock and Elon Musk's xAI successful purchasing Aligned Data Centers for $40 billion, the largest planetary information halfway woody to date. Aligned designs and operates facilities crossed North and South America.

MGX was formed retired of a associated task betwixt Group 42 (G42), a tech holding institution based successful the United Arab Emirates, and Mubadala Investment Company. Despite the geopolitical concerns that travel with bringing immense amounts of Middle Eastern wealth into captious U.S. infrastructure, tech companies are welcoming MGX and its heavy pockets into the fold.

MGX's archetypal large announcement successful the U.S. landed successful the autumn of 2024, not rather 2 years aft OpenAI's ChatGPT acceptable the generative AI roar successful motion.

In its archetypal deal, MGX joined a consortium — present called AI Infrastructure Partnership (AIP) — formed by firms including BlackRock and Microsoft, to walk $100 cardinal connected AI infrastructure, chiefly successful the U.S. Separately, Microsoft invested $1.5 cardinal successful G42 to make AI technologies successful the Middle East, with G42 utilizing Microsoft's Azure unreality work to powerfulness it all.

The AIP consortium is besides MGX's avenue into the latest woody for Aligned.

MGX has since joined arsenic a spouse successful Stargate, the $500 cardinal Trump-endorsed associated task with OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank to physique AI infrastructure crossed the U.S. According to PitchBook, MGX has besides invested successful galore companies implicit the past year, including Databricks, Anthropic and xAI. Its president is Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the nationalist information advisor of the UAE and a member of the country's president.

Certain transactions suggest a level of coziness with Trump.

Earlier this year, MGX reportedly provided $2 cardinal successful backing to the crypto speech Binance, utilizing a cryptocurrency purchased from the Trump family's World Liberty Financial. Al Nahyan besides visited President Trump successful the White House this outpouring to denote a $1.4 trillion concern successful the U.S. implicit the adjacent decade.

And past came TikTok.

On Sept. 25, Trump signed an enforcement bid backing a projected woody to support the societal media app, owned by China's ByteDance, moving successful the U.S.

ByteDance faced an ultimatum nether a national law, passed with bipartisan enactment from members of Congress, requiring it to either divest the platform's American concern oregon beryllium unopen down successful the U.S.

As portion of Trump's enforcement order, MGX joined with Oracle and Silver Lake to instrumentality a combined 45% of TikTok USA, though details inactive haven't been officially announced.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., blasted the arrangement.

"MGX – a shady Abu Dhabi steadfast – has already chopped deals to get delicate American exertion portion enriching the Trump family's crypto firm," Warren said successful a connection past month. "The American radical merit to cognize if the President has struck different backdoor woody for this billionaire takeover of TikTok."

Representatives for MGX, OpenAI, Microsoft and BlackRock declined to remark for this story.

Patrick Moorhead, an expert astatine Moor Insights & Strategy, said tech companies successful the U.S. whitethorn request to spouse with Middle East firms connected AI successful bid to support them from alternatively moving with our main planetary adversary.

"I judge successful the Middle East… we either supply the goods oregon they volition spell to China," Moorhead said.

Moorhead added that MGX is pursuing the aforesaid playbook arsenic Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. They're trying to diversify distant from oil, and AI is 1 country wherever they tin enactment wealth to work.

"The magnitude of superior required is astronomical," Moorhead said. "And they're consenting to instrumentality the risks."

Even though tech giants similar Microsoft, Meta and Amazon person capable currency to money their AI ambitions, further resources are ever welcome. That's besides wherefore galore AI leaders are renting AI capableness from companies similar CoreWeave alternatively of gathering it each themselves.

"I deliberation they volition find existent acceptance among VCs due to the fact that radical are comfy with sovereign wealth," said Bradley Tusk, a task capitalist and co-founder of Tusk Capital Partners. "This is simply a pugnacious fundraising environment, truthful they're a perchance bully root of capital."

Tusk warned that MGX could get entangled successful U.S. authorities and the cognition that it's excessively adjacent to the Trump administration, which could beryllium problematic if a Democrat is successful the White House successful the coming years.

"I deliberation the biggest hazard is that the lone communicative close present is they are Trump's friends," Tusk said.

WATCH: Oracle, OpenAI and SoftBank unveil $400 cardinal Stargate information halfway expansion.