- Private investment firm MGX closed a $49 billion fund to back AI companies.
- The Abu Dhabi-based firm is a major backer of OpenAI and Anthropic.
- Investors are betting big on AI companies despite recent volatility in tech stocks.
MGX, a major backer of artificial intelligence firms Anthropic and OpenAI, announced on Wednesday that it had closed a $49 billion fund to back AI companies.
This makes the two-year-old Abu Dhabi firm one of the most consequential investors in the sector around the globe, Bloomberg reported.
The Emirati firm attracted investments from major institutional and private investors in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North America. The total money raised by MGX surpassed its target of $45 billion.
MGX has already deployed capital from its new fund, which closed in recent weeks. The private investment firm has been central to Abu Dhabi's efforts to use its vast oil wealth to invest in technologies expected to reshape the global economy.
MGX is chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Backed by G42 and Mubadala Investment Co., it has assembled a portfolio spanning semiconductor infrastructure, frontier AI models and data centres. MGX has also backed global projects alongside Microsoft and BlackRock Inc.
The firm has a target of achieving over $100 billion in assets under management. It plans to spend around $10 billion annually over the next few years to reach the target.
Race For Backing AI
Investors are betting big on AI companies. This year, artificial intelligence firms have raised a record $416.6 billion so far, according to Dealroom, nearly doubling the amount raised in 2025.
OpenAI and Anthropic together picked up the majority of the capital raised this year, as per CNBC. Both have MGX as a significant backer.
The Emirati fund co-led Anthropic's $30 billion fundraising in February. It took part in the Claude maker's $65 billion Series H in May. In March, MGX also co-led OpenAI's $122 billion raise.
It also participated in xAI's $20 billion raise in January, prior to the firm's merger with Elon Musk's SpaceX.
For MGX, attracting third-party capital is what makes it different from traditional Gulf sovereign wealth funds, which majorly deploy government money. The private investment fund was designed to operate more like a global alternative asset manager from the start, raising institutional capital as well as investing alongside its sponsors.
This model allows MGX to pursue larger transactions. It also expands its investor base.
The fresh capital would give MGX additional funds as the cost of developing frontier AI models continues to rise.
Training models, as well as creating the semiconductor infrastructure and data centres required to support them requires tens of billions of dollars in outlays. This has led investors to seek ever-larger pools of capital.
At the same time, the tech rally has been volatile recently as investors remain concerned that share prices may have run up too far for companies that are spending billions on AI.
