Khaldoon Al Mubarak, CEO of Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala
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Mubadala, CEO of the Abu Dhabi Sovereign Wealth Fund, told CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos that the world has not yet fully realized the extent to which artificial intelligence will change all aspects of human life.
“In terms of risk… this is a technology that no one really appreciates today, and it’s going to be really disruptive, impacting our lives, our businesses, our human capital, our jobs, everything. It’s $330 billion. Khaldoon Al Mubarak, managing director of the fund, told CNBC’s Dan Murphy.
“I think while there’s a lot of opportunity, it also creates a huge risk that’s not clear yet because the technology is moving so fast and we’re all trying to catch up.”
Al Mubarak outlined that Mubadala has been promoting artificial intelligence and infrastructure to support emerging technologies, including data centers and chip manufacturing.
Mubadala is a founding investor in MGX, Abu Dhabi’s artificial intelligence-focused investment vehicle. The fund participates in OpenAI Latest round of fundraising In October, $6.6 billion was raised. In the same month, the wealth fund’s dedicated artificial intelligence company, G42, announced a partnership with OpenAI to develop artificial intelligence in the UAE and regional markets.
Last year, Microsoft G42 invests US$1.5 billionin a deal that will see G42 use Microsoft’s cloud services to run its artificial intelligence applications. In December, Washington approved the export of advanced artificial intelligence chips to a factory run by Microsoft in the United Arab Emirates as part of the G42 deal, which has come under scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers over security concerns.
Mubarak expressed optimism about the future of artificial intelligence and the UAE’s ability to harness it with its investment strategy.
“In terms of the implementation of this technology, the demand is going to be very high,” he said. What this means is that “technology, artificial intelligence support, that is, the infrastructure side – whether it’s energy, transmission, all forms of technology, energy technology, will help drive this huge demand, and I would also add data centers Expansion, chip expansion.
“When you look at a 10-year horizon, that’s how we look at these investments — we don’t look at one or two years, we look at the next five, 10, 20 years. I think that The growth in demand is so strong that even if you take a conservative view, there will be overwhelming growth in this area,” Mubarak stressed.
“That gives me a lot of confidence. I think that’s what I see, the opportunity we see.”
Still committed to China
Looking ahead to the global political landscape, Mubarak said the Abu Dhabi Wealth Fund plans to continue investing in China despite possible trade headwinds from the new Donald Trump administration and China’s economic slowdown.
Asked whether the Asian economic powerhouse was worth investing in in the Trump era, especially with the return of trade tariffs, Mubarak said: “I would say I am still committed to investing in China.”
“Let’s look at the basics. When you look at the Chinese economy, it’s the second largest economy in the world. You have 1.4 billion people. The middle-income population continues to grow. GDP continues to grow. So I think those are the The basic framework within which we view China.
The investment chief pointed out that China’s major cities Shanghai and Hong Kong will achieve double-digit market returns in 2024: the Shanghai Composite Index rose 12.7% last year, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose nearly 18% in 2024.
He also noted that the Chinese government boosted the market late last year by cutting interest rates and announcing a broad stimulus package.
“I think China has a lot to offer on the consumer side and I think will continue to offer good opportunities,” he said. “Tariffs, trade, wars, whatever words you want to use, I think these are challenging. I think not just for China, I think for the world, but I think at the end of the day, there are enough pragmatic means, I think, to have a reasonable soft landing. Will produce the best results for everyone.
Mubarak did say that Chinese policymakers should do more to stabilize the domestic economy.
“Yes, I think the domestic economy is obviously critical, especially given the evolution of trade or the global trade situation,” he told CNBC. “I think anything that helps continue to boost the Chinese consumer market is good for the market. positive signal.”
