Latest news with #SheikhTahnoon
The National
23-05-2025
- Business
- The National
Abu Dhabi's IHC to double assets to $218bn by 2030, CEO says
International Holding Company (IHC), the largest listed company in the UAE, aims to double its asset base to Dh800 billion ($218 billion) and hit the Dh200 billion annual revenue mark by the end of the decade, driven by its acquisition spree, its chief executive said. The company, whose board is chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, is keen to expand its portfolio of assets in the US, India and fast-growing economies in the Central Asian region. Acquisitions as well as developing new businesses are part of the aggressive assets growth investment strategy the Abu Dhabi-listed company is following, Syed Basar Shueb told The National on the sidelines of the Make it in the Emirates summit in Abu Dhabi. 'Way before 2030" is the target perhaps in 2029, and 'we will double it, that's for sure', he said of the potential timeline for doubling the company's portfolio of assets. The UAE, the Arab world's second-largest economy, accounts for 60 per cent of the company's Dh416.5 billion asset base as of the end of the first quarter of this year,while the rest is spread across the region and the markets beyond. Mr Shueb, however, expects this ratio to inverse in the next 10 years, with the company's foreign asset portfolio accounting for about '60 per cent to 70 per cent' with the UAE hosting the rest. 'Earlier we were doing a lot of acquisitions, now we are developing new businesses very fast,' he said. The Abu Dhabi-headquartered conglomerate is a frontline company in the emirate's push to diversify its non-oil business sectors and has grown rapidly to become one of the most valuable listed holding companies in the broader Middle East and North Africa region. IHC, which has a market capitalisation of Dh883 billion, has been on an investment spree buying businesses as well as acquiring fast-growing companies over the past few years in the UAE as well as in markets across contents. Earlier this month, the company announced the launch of a $1 billion reinsurance company in partnership with the world's biggest asset manager BlackRock. It also established a new holding company 2PointZero with more than $27 billion in assets in January. IHC also revealed plans to set up a new infrastructure platform 'Gridora' in partnership with Abu Dhabi's state holding company ADQ and Modon for the development of new infrastructure projects in the UAE and markets around the globe. The company's acquisitions this year include buying Egypt's microfinance platform Maseera, with a pledge to invest $1 billion in the next five years to support its expansion. 'Acquisition is a daily thing … what we are reviewing right now is at least 50 [acquisition transactions] in multiple sectors and different geographies,' he said. Mr Shueb did not give details about the potential size of investments it plans to make on acquisitions, but said those deals will be funded through the company's own balance sheet as IHC has sufficient cash on hand for financing. Founded in 1998, IHC operates through more than 1,300 subsidiaries and aims to expand and diversify its holdings in sectors including asset management, health care, property and construction, marine and dredging, IT and communications, financial services, food production, utilities and services. Some of the companies under its umbrella include Abu Dhabi's biggest listed developer Aldar Properties, Modon Properties, Adnec Group, Presight, Al Seer Marine and NMDC Group. US and India in focus In terms of the geographic focus of its investments, the company is seeking deals in the US and India, Asia's third-largest economy. It has $60 billion worth of investments in the US alone, including in companies such as SpaceX and Ardent Healthcare. Within the next decade, IHC plans to boost its US investment by another $40 billion to $50 billion and ultimately aims to hit the total investment target in the world's biggest economy of about $120 billion, Mr Shueb said. In India, it will invest up to $110 billion, while in the CIS or Far East countries, investments are expected to be in the range of $50 billion over the same period. Data centres, renewable energy, nuclear as well as building infrastructure projects are the priority sectors of investment for the company, he added. In the US, IHC is keen to develop small modular nuclear reactors in partnership with other companies as well as buy established businesses to further expand its footprint. 'We are talking with a few players [on small modular reactors]. It's at a very advanced stage," he said. In India, the company has a partnership with Adani Group, owned by billionaire Gautam Adani, and IHC 'values that partnership a lot, and we are expanding with them", Mr Shueb said. 'India is one of the major markets for us,' he said, adding that a bulk of IHC international expansion, other than the US, is set to take place through partnerships. Potential IPOs A number of IHC units are listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, where its own shares trade, including Modon, Multiply Group, Al Seer Marine and Alpha Dhabi Holding. The company plans to list more of its subsidiaries on the Abu Dhabi bourse, Mr Shueb said. The newly created company 2PointZero is among the companies being lined up for public floats and the listing could take place at the 'beginning of the second half', he said without giving further details on the stake being sold and how much IHC plans to raise in funding through the deal. Dh200bn revenue target by 2030 The company's aggressive growth strategy will also help it more than double its annual revenue to Dh200 billion by the end of this decade, he said. IHC reported Dh92.6 billion in revenue by the end of last year and Mr Shueb said 'if we cross Dh200 billion, we will be in great shape'. The continued growth of the UAE economy as well as new opportunities in the US will help it achieve its revenue target, he said. Opening of regional economies, including Syria, is also expected to provide new investment opportunities for IHC. 'There's a lot of development required there. Hopefully, other countries will also open up soon,' he added. Last week, the US announced lifting of economic sanctions on Syria, paving way for more investments in the country.
WIRED
22-05-2025
- Automotive
- WIRED
A United Arab Emirates Lab Announces Frontier AI Projects—and a New Outpost in Silicon Valley
May 22, 2025 1:00 PM As Donald Trump pens deals in the Middle East, the gulf nation opens a research lab in San Francisco. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio poses for a photo with UAE National Security Advisor Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi in Abu Dhabi, on February 19, 2025. Photograph:A United Arab Emirates (UAE) academic lab today launched an artificial intelligence world model and agent, two large language models (LLMs) and a new research center in Silicon Valley as it ramps up its investment in the cutting-edge field. The UAE's Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) revealed an AI world model called PAN, which can be used to build physically realistic simulations for testing and honing the performance of AI agents. Eric Xing, President and Professor of MBZUAI and a leading AI researcher, revealed the models and lab at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California today. Xing says the UAE's new center in Sunnyvale, California, will help the nation tap into the world's most concentrated source of AI knowledge and talent. 'We're creating pathways for knowledge exchange with leading institutions and accessing a talent pool that understands how to scale research into real-world applications," Xing said in an announcement. MBZUAI today also revealed PAN-Agent, an experimental AI agent trained to perform reasoning tasks within the PAN world model. MBZAUI says AI researchers will be able to use PAN to test agents in simulated real-world scenarios, including self-driving cars on virtual roads. A demonstration at today's event showed PAN being used to simulate self-driving cars navigating busy roads, drones flying through unfamiliar species, and robots operating within domestic environments. Many AI researchers believe that 'world models' like PAN will be crucial to building more advanced AI systems, including virtual assistants and robots capable of working in unfamiliar environments. Earlier this week, Google's AI lead, Demis Hassabis, stressed the importance of world modeling to his company's AI plans. Besides the new world model, MBZUAI announced two new large language models (LLMs) at today's event. K2, a 65-billion parameter model optimized for reasoning tasks, was trained on 80 A100 chips using NVIDIA's DGX Cloud, developed using 35 percent less compute than Meta's Llama 2 at the same size, Xing says. MBZUAI also revealed Jais, which it says is the world's most advanced Arabic-language LLM. President Donald Trump traveled to the Middle East this month to broker deals involving US companies and Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Qatar. Deals involving US tech giants, including Nvidia, AMD, AWS, and Qualcomm, could help propel a boom for the region's fledgling AI industry by providing crucial AI chips and datacenter capacity. The deals are also strategically important for the US government because they promise to expand US technological influence ahead of key rival China. Trump said in Abu Dhabi this month that several unnamed US companies would work with the UAE to build the largest AI datacenter cluster outside of America. The deal will involve an arrangement designed to prevent the chip or compute power being used by China.
Emirates 24/7
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Emirates 24/7
UAE President welcomes US President Trump upon arrival in Abu Dhabi on state visit to UAE
US President Donald Trump arrived in Abu Dhabi today on a state visit to the United Arab Emirates. UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan welcomed the US President and his accompanying delegation as they arrived at the Presidential Airport. Also present to receive the US President were His Highness Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Ruler of Abu Dhabi and National Security Adviser; His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs; His Excellency Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, Advisor to the UAE President; His Excellency Dr. Ahmed Mubarak Al Mazrouei, Chairman of the President's Office for Strategic Affairs and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Office; His Excellency Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Executive Affairs Authority; and His Excellency Yousef Al Otaiba, UAE Ambassador to the United States, along with a number of senior officials. As the US President's aircraft entered UAE airspace, it was met by a ceremonial escort of military jets in honour of his visit. The squadron leader radioed the aircraft to request permission to accompany it to the Presidential Airport, extending a warm welcome to President Trump on behalf of the UAE. Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.
Zawya
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Zawya
UAE President welcomes US President Trump upon arrival in Abu Dhabi on state visit to UAE
US President Donald Trump arrived in Abu Dhabi today on a state visit to the United Arab Emirates. UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan welcomed the US President and his accompanying delegation as they arrived at the Presidential Airport. Also present to receive the US President were His Highness Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Ruler of Abu Dhabi and National Security Adviser; His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs; His Excellency Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, Advisor to the UAE President; His Excellency Dr. Ahmed Mubarak Al Mazrouei, Chairman of the President's Office for Strategic Affairs and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Office; His Excellency Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Executive Affairs Authority; and His Excellency Yousef Al Otaiba, UAE Ambassador to the United States, along with a number of senior officials. As the US President's aircraft entered UAE airspace, it was met by a ceremonial escort of military jets in honour of his visit. The squadron leader radioed the aircraft to request permission to accompany it to the Presidential Airport, extending a warm welcome to President Trump on behalf of the UAE.
The National
11-05-2025
- Business
- The National
Sheikh Tahnoon meets top White House crypto and AI adviser David Sacks
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, Deputy Ruler of Abu Dhabi and UAE National Security Adviser, has met top White House cryptocurrency and AI adviser David Sacks to discuss ways to strengthen artificial intelligence collaborations between the UAE and the US. In a social media post to X, Sheikh Tahnoon posted a picture showing the meeting with Mr Sacks, who was visiting the UAE. "Our discussion reflects the ongoing momentum in UAE-US economic relations, where collaboration in advanced technologies serves as a cornerstone for building a smart, sustainable digital future that meets the aspirations of future generations," Sheikh Tahnoon wrote. Mr Sacks, also posted about the meeting on X. "As Vice President Vance explained in his Paris speech on AI, the US must make itself the partner-of-choice for our friends and allies — otherwise others will fill that gap. US companies still have the best technology but we are no longer the only game in town," he wrote. Sheikh Tahnoon's meeting with Mr Sacks comes just days before US President Donald Trump will arrive in the UAE, his first trip to the country in his capacity as leader. Before his visit to the UAE, Mr Trump will make stops in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Mr Sacks made headlines in March when he oversaw what Mr Trump said was the first White House Crypto Summit. Among the digital asset, tech and crypto chief executives at the March meeting were Coinbase's Brian Armstrong, Robinhood's Vlad Tenev, Chainlink's Sergey Nazarov, Ripple's Brad Garlinghouse and Kraken's Arjun Sethi. For Mr Trump, the summit was the culmination of years of evolving thought on crypto. During a 2021 interview with Fox Business, Mr Trump said that Bitcoin, one of the flagship crypto brands, was a 'disaster waiting to happen' and claimed that it hurt the dollar. Also in March, Sheikh Tahnoon made a trip to Washington and the White House, where energy investments, economic partnerships, AI and data centres were among the topics of discussion.
