Fireside Chat, Conference Presentation, Interview
Michael Milken in Conversation with HE Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak | Middle East & Africa Summit
Milken InstituteMichael Milken, HE Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, Sarah Sandler, His Excellency Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak
- The UAE maintains a long-term strategy to execute educated strategic moves in high-impact sectors rather than specific bets, positioning itself as an early entrant that established a federal AI minister in 2017 and MBZ AI University in 2019 to drive full societal integration.
- Construction on the five-gigawatt Stargate AI factory is underway on a 19-square-kilometer site, contingent on government agreements, with the first 200-megawatt phase projected to be operational in the third quarter of the upcoming year.
- Operational capacity is accelerating with approval for 35,000 GPUs, a significant increase from the regional baseline of roughly 10,000 chips.
- Mubadala aims to fully integrate AI into all operations and business methods by the end of 2025, utilizing a "digital twin" of its investment committee to simulate decision-making and a "contrarian agent" to provide counterpoints to enhance effectiveness.
- The organization plans to evolve AI usage to generate business operational ideas while pursuing organic and inorganic growth to establish itself as a premier global money manager through partnerships with "the best in class."
- The UAE serves as a primary connectivity corridor between East and West, specifically linking Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe within a 2,000-kilometer radius.
- Heavy investment is directed toward the new economy, including technology, AI, biotech, life sciences, digital infrastructure, and renewable and new energy sectors.
- High net worth individual migration is expected to continue, driven primarily by safety, regulation, infrastructure quality, and partner presence, with tax advantages viewed as a secondary factor.
- Leadership anticipates that resistance to AI implementation will eventually vanish as the benefits become evident, with detractors likely to thank leadership for the initiative.