Tahnoon bin Zayed: The Spy Sheikh

Watan-An American newspaper highlighted UAE National Security Advisor Tahnoun bin Zayed, nicknamed the “Sheikh Spy,” and how he uses his vast wealth to serve his diverse passions, which over the years have ranged from martial arts to chess and video games.

According to the newspaper, Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan is now applying the same approach but on a much larger scale. He seeks to propel his small emirate to the forefront of the race to develop and control artificial intelligence (AI) systems—technologies that could reshape the global economy.

The world is watching closely. In recent months, the CEOs of Apple, Microsoft, and BlackRock have visited his lavish royal compound in the Arabian Gulf.

Tahnoun bin Zayed: The Billionaire Power Broker Behind AI’s Future

Tahnoun trained with Mark Zuckerberg, who also shares a passion for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, during a fall trip to the U.S. He also wore a sweater and jeans during his visit to Elon Musk at Tesla’s factory in Texas.

All of this is possible, in part, because the 56-year-old Tahnoun controls more wealth than almost anyone on the planet. He heads two Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth funds with assets estimated at around $1.4 trillion, alongside managing his vast personal fortune.

Tahnoun leads a new AI fund called MGX, which is set to receive more than $50 billion from his wealth and other sources in Abu Dhabi, according to sources familiar with the fund. Additional billions will also be spent on AI through G42, a company he controls.

Tahnoun’s entities are part of more than $70 billion that the UAE pledged to invest in France and Italy earlier this month.

MGX was one of the few names mentioned in support of the $100 billion “Stargate” data center project announced at the White House last month, led by SoftBank and OpenAI. It has also made significant investments in OpenAI, Musk’s xAI project, and the Amazon-backed AI company Anthropic.

Tahnoun stands out in the world of AI mega-investments. While many investors focus tens of billions on specific areas—SoftBank betting heavily on OpenAI, and tech giants investing in data centers—Tahnoun is spreading his investments across the emerging sector more than anyone else.

However, now is a risky time to pour massive funds into AI. The low-cost AI model launched by China’s DeepSeek has challenged assumptions about the need for enormous investments.

Tech valuations have skyrocketed, with even the most optimistic investors acknowledging a frenzy in the market.

Tahnoun’s AI Gamble: Shaping the UAE’s Tech Future

Major AI companies are expected to lose billions for years to come, with future profitability hinging on uncertain assumptions about a global demand surge.

Many see parallels with the late-stage dot-com bubble when investors poured tens of billions into fiber-optic networks, expecting internet growth to be faster than it was. This led to an oversupply of fiber and massive losses.

But this hasn’t deterred Tahnoun. His strategy is to use his wealth and influence to ensure that the UAE and Abu Dhabi financially benefit from AI’s rise, making the UAE a global tech hub.

His vision is that chip factories, data centers, and local AI companies will help build a post-oil economy for his small but powerful emirate—just a 90-minute drive from Dubai—and for the country as a whole, anticipating massive global demand in the years ahead.

From his opulent Abu Dhabi palace, Tahnoun personally monitors global AI model developments via a dashboard designed for him by his researchers on his phone and computer. He also pushes his employees across his vast corporate network to integrate AI rapidly.

Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president, who has worked closely with the sheikh since 2023, says: “Tahnoun has the capital to invest in a project that requires massive capital expenditures.”

During one of his meetings with Tahnoun, Smith and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella mentioned a book by Jeffrey Ding, a professor at George Washington University, which argues that AI could be the foundation of the next wave of global economic growth.

Tahnoun wrote the book’s title in his notebook. Shortly after, Ding was having lunch in his Washington, D.C., office when a representative from the UAE embassy knocked on his door, saying, “I can’t find your book anywhere. Can I get two copies?” according to Smith.

A Trillion-Dollar Consolation Prize

Tahnoun grew up in the shadow of his older brother, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who was Crown Prince for a long time before becoming the UAE President in 2022.

While his brother built relationships with foreign leaders and planned Abu Dhabi’s economic transformation, Tahnoun honed his skills in various pursuits.

He was obsessed with the video game Age of Empires, where players evolve from primitive societies into powerful civilizations, to the point that he hired an employee from the game’s development company to train him in tactics, according to former staffers.

Tahnoun turned one of the palaces in his royal compound into a gym, funds one of the world’s top cycling teams—the UAE Team Emirates—and cycles on a private island near the presidential palace, which he equipped with dedicated tracks. He loved ultra-light Colnago bicycles so much that he had one of his companies acquire the manufacturer.

The sheikh has poured money into promoting Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and other forms of wrestling worldwide. He holds a black belt and founded a well-funded championship that filmmaker Bobby Razak, who is making a documentary about Tahnoun and the tournament, described as “becoming the Olympics of our sport.”

Razak said: “He is definitely one of the founding fathers of mixed martial arts,” adding that the sport “wouldn’t be where it is today without Tahnoun.”

Tahnoun’s interest in AI dates back to the early 2000s when he was so fascinated by computer-enhanced chess that he hired a large team of engineers to develop a program called “Hydra” to compete with the world’s best players.

Erdogan Gunes, a specialist in chess opening theory, said he used to speak with the sheikh for two or more hours daily to review Hydra’s matches.

Tahnoun’s AI Awakening: From Chess Engines to Global Influence

Tahnoun’s fascination deepened in late 2017 when he learned that Google’s AI program, AlphaZero, had defeated the world’s best chess engine after just four hours of learning the rules. The program far outperformed Hydra, opening his eyes to AI’s possibilities, according to those close to him.

The following year, he tasked Peng Xiao, a former CTO at MicroStrategy, with founding G42, an AI applications company.

At the time, Abu Dhabi’s investment and wealth strategy was controlled by Tahnoun’s brother, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed. As the country’s de facto ruler, Mohammed pushed to shift part of the emirate’s oil wealth into investment and economic development, leading to the creation of a sovereign wealth fund that later came under Tahnoun’s control.

Mohammed saw technology as a key pillar of his plans and launched a national strategy in 2017 to make the UAE “the world leader in AI by 2031” (later revised to “one of the leaders”).

When Mohammed became UAE President, there was speculation that Tahnoun would be named Crown Prince. Instead, Mohammed gave the title to his son and appointed Tahnoun as head of two sovereign wealth funds, making him Abu Dhabi’s top financial decision-maker.

By last year, Tahnoun was managing assets exceeding $1.5 trillion, according to Global SWF, alongside his vast business empire, which spans real estate, shipping, banking, and food.

Western business leaders have been captivated by the Emirati sheikh.

Tahnoun’s ambitions in AI, however, have faced complex geopolitical hurdles, particularly regarding his ties with China and U.S. security concerns.

To secure U.S. AI technology, Washington officials told him in 2023 that he had to choose between China and the U.S. if he wanted access to American AI. He chose the U.S., removing Huawei equipment from G42’s offices and replacing it with Western hardware.

Despite challenges, Tahnoun continues to shape AI investments, leveraging his wealth and influence to position Abu Dhabi as a major player in the global AI race.