According to an analysis by EnterpriseAM, the United States holds a wide lead in securing partnerships for the Middle East and North Africa's highest-profile artificial intelligence infrastructure, though Chinese technology providers remain a formidable competitive force. Microsoft, Amazon, and Oracle alone have committed approximately USD 40 billion to Gulf AI initiatives over the next decade, with OpenAI and Nvidia serving as primary partners on major data center developments with UAE AI entity G42 and Saudi champion Humain.
US regulatory arrangements have supported this dominance: the US Commerce Department approved a pact permitting Saudi Arabia to acquire up to 35,000 top-tier Nvidia AI processors, while G42 and its cloud division Core42 received license-free access to these advanced chips through at least April 2027. In contrast, public AI investment commitments across the region by Chinese technology firms—including Huawei, Tencent, and Alibaba—total approximately USD 1 billion.
Nevertheless, China maintains established technology ties across the region that predate current AI initiatives. Huawei operates as a primary 5G equipment provider and maintains in-country cloud regions in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, while also supplying AI services to regional telecom operators. While Huawei has not yet completed sales of cutting-edge AI chips in the MENA region, it has held discussions regarding a potential agreement to provide training and inference processors to Egypt. Chinese smartphone makers also hold a combined 35% to 40% market share across the region.
Regional appetite for supplier diversification has been amplified by policy uncertainties in Washington. In June, the US administration temporarily halted foreign access to Anthropic's Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models over national security concerns, raising alarms among Middle Eastern technology enterprises regarding the risk of being abruptly excluded from critical foundational AI systems.
Sources
- EnterpriseAM · 2026-11-04
