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UAE National Security Advisor, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan meets with U.S. President Donald Trump in the White House on March 18, 2025.

Courtesy: Donald J. Trump | Via Truth Social

As artificial intelligence startups raise increasingly large sums of cash to fund their swelling infrastructure needs, they’re turning to strategic partners like Nvidia and big venture firms such as Thrive Capital, Sequoia and Andreessen Horowitz.

But one major financier has a name that’s less familiar in the world of tech investing: MGX.

Backed by Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund and launched in March 2024, MGX has emerged as a key source of capital as hyperscalers Microsoft, Meta and Google, and startups like OpenAI race to build out the enormous computing power needed to meet expected AI demand.

In September, MGX made another big splash, joining Oracle and Silver Lake in President Donald Trump‘s push to get TikTok under U.S. control.

And on Wednesday, MGX was back in the news as part of another giant AI deal. MGX is joining investors including Nvidia, Microsoft, BlackRock and Elon Musk’s xAI in purchasing Aligned Data Centers for $40 billion, the largest global data center deal to date. Aligned designs and operates facilities across North and South America.

MGX was formed out of a joint venture between Group 42 (G42), a tech holding company based in the United Arab Emirates, and Mubadala Investment Company. Despite the geopolitical concerns that come with bringing vast amounts of Middle Eastern money into critical U.S. infrastructure, tech companies are welcoming MGX and its deep pockets into the fold.

MGX’s first major announcement in the U.S. landed in the fall of 2024, not quite two years after OpenAI’s ChatGPT set the generative AI boom in motion.

In its initial deal, MGX joined a consortium — now called AI Infrastructure Partnership (AIP) — formed by firms including BlackRock and Microsoft, to spend $100 billion on AI infrastructure, primarily in the U.S. Separately, Microsoft invested $1.5 billion in G42 to develop AI technologies in the Middle East, with G42 using Microsoft’s Azure cloud service to power it all.

The AIP consortium is also MGX’s avenue into the latest deal for Aligned.

Trump administration considers deal to send AI chips to UAE's G42: Report

MGX has since joined as a partner in Stargate, the $500 billion Trump-endorsed joint venture with OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank to build AI infrastructure across the U.S. According to PitchBook, MGX has also invested in numerous companies over the past year, including Databricks, Anthropic and xAI. Its chairman is Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the national security advisor of the UAE and a brother of the country’s president.

Certain transactions suggest a level of coziness with Trump.

Earlier this year, MGX reportedly provided $2 billion in funding to the crypto exchange Binance, using a cryptocurrency purchased from the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial. Al Nahyan also visited President Trump in the White House this spring to announce a $1.4 trillion investment in the U.S. over the next decade.

‘Backdoor deal’

And then came TikTok.

On Sept. 25, Trump signed an executive order backing a proposed deal to keep the social media app, owned by China’s ByteDance, running in the U.S.

ByteDance faced an ultimatum under a federal law, passed with bipartisan support from members of Congress, requiring it to either divest the platform’s American business or be shut down in the U.S.

As part of Trump’s executive order, MGX joined with Oracle and Silver Lake to take a combined 45% of TikTok USA, though details still haven’t been officially announced.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., blasted the arrangement.

“MGX – a shady Abu Dhabi firm – has already cut deals to get sensitive American technology while enriching the Trump family’s crypto firm,” Warren said in a statement last month. “The American people deserve to know if the President has struck another backdoor deal for this billionaire takeover of TikTok.”

Representatives for MGX, OpenAI, Microsoft and BlackRock declined to comment for this story.

The steel frame of data centers under construction during a tour of the OpenAI data center in Abilene, Texas, U.S., Sept. 23, 2025.

Shelby Tauber | Reuters

Patrick Moorhead, an analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, said tech companies in the U.S. may need to partner with Middle East firms on AI in order to keep them from instead working with our chief international adversary.

“I believe in the Middle East… we either provide the goods or they will go to China,” Moorhead said.

Moorhead added that MGX is following the same playbook as Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. They’re trying to diversify away from oil, and AI is one area where they can put money to work.

“The amount of capital required is astronomical,” Moorhead said. “And they’re willing to take the risks.”

Even though tech giants like Microsoft, Meta and Amazon have enough cash to fund their AI ambitions, additional resources are always welcome. That’s also why many AI leaders are renting AI capacity from companies like CoreWeave instead of building it all themselves.

“I think they will find real acceptance among VCs because people are comfortable with sovereign wealth,” said Bradley Tusk, a venture capitalist and co-founder of Tusk Capital Partners. “This is a tough fundraising environment, so they’re a potentially good source of capital.”

Tusk warned that MGX could get entangled in U.S. politics and the perception that it’s too close to the Trump administration, which could be problematic if a Democrat is in the White House in the coming years.

“I think the biggest risk is that the only narrative right now is they are Trump’s friends,” Tusk said.

WATCH: Oracle, OpenAI and SoftBank unveil $400 billion Stargate data center expansion.

Oracle, OpenAI and SoftBank unveil $400 billion Stargate data center expansions

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Stocks end November with mixed results despite a strong Thanksgiving week rally

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Palantir has worst month in two years as AI stocks sell off

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Palantir has worst month in two years as AI stocks sell off

CEO of Palantir Technologies Alex Karp attends the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit, at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S., July 15, 2025.

Nathan Howard | Reuters

It’s been a tough November for Palantir.

Shares of the software analytics provider dropped 16% for their worst month since August 2023 as investors dumped AI stocks due to valuation fears. Meanwhile, famed investor Michael Burry doubled down on the artificial intelligence trade and bet against the company.

Palantir started November off on a high note.

The Denver-based company topped Wall Street’s third-quarter earnings and revenue expectations. Palantir also posted its second-straight $1 billion revenue quarter, but high valuation concerns contributed to a post-print selloff.

In a note to clients, Jefferies analysts called Palantir’s valuation “extreme” and argued investors would find better risk-reward in AI names such as Microsoft and Snowflake. Analysts at RBC Capital Markets raised concerns about the company’s “increasingly concentrated growth profile,” while Deutsche Bank called the valuation “very difficult to wrap our heads around.”

Adding fuel to the post-earnings selloff was the revelation that Burry is betting against Palantir and AI chipmaker Nvidia. Burry, who is widely known for predicting the housing crisis that occurred in 2008 and the portrayal of him in the film “The Big Short,” later accused hyperscalers of artificially boosting earnings.

Palantir CEO Alex Karp vocally hit the front lines, appearing twice in one week on CNBC, where he accused Burry of “market manipulation” and called the investor’s actions “egregious.”

“The idea that chips and ontology is what you want to short is bats— crazy,” Karp told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

Despite the vicious selloff, Palantir has notched some deal wins this month. That included a multiyear contract with consulting firm PwC to speed up AI adoption in the U.K. and a deal with aircraft engine maintenance company FTAI.

But those announcements did little to shake off valuation worries that have haunted all AI-tied companies in November.

Across the board, investors have viciously ditched the high-priced group, citing fears of stretched valuations and a bubble.

In November, Nvidia pulled back more than 12%, while Microsoft and Amazon dropped about 5% each. Quantum computing names such as Rigetti Computing and D-Wave Quantum have shed more than a third of their value.

Apple and Alphabet were the only Magnificent 7 stocks to end the month with gains.

Sill, questions linger over Palantir’s valuation, and those worries aren’t a new concern.

Even after its steep price drop, the company’s stock trades at 233 times forward earnings. By comparison, Nvidia and Alphabet traded at about 38 times and 30 times, respectively, at Friday’s close.

Karp, who has long defended the company, didn’t miss an opportunity to clap back at his critics, arguing in a letter to shareholders that the company is making it feasible for everyday investors to attain rates of return once “limited to the most successful venture capitalists in Palo Alto.”

“Please turn on the conventional television and see how unhappy those that didn’t invest in us are,” Karp said during an earnings call. “Enjoy, get some popcorn. They’re crying. We are every day making this company better, and we’re doing it for this nation, for allied countries.”

Palantir declined to comment for this story.

WATCH: Palantir CEO Alex Karp: We’ve printed venture results for the average American

Palantir CEO Alex Karp: We've printed venture results for the average American

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CME disruption, Black Friday, the K-beauty boom and more in Morning Squawk

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CME disruption, Black Friday, the K-beauty boom and more in Morning Squawk

CME Group sign at NYMEX in New York.

Adam Jeffery | CNBC

This is CNBC’s Morning Squawk newsletter. Subscribe here to receive future editions in your inbox.

Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:

1. Down and out

Stock futures trading was halted this morning after a data center “cooling issue” took down several Chicago Mercantile Exchange services. Individual stocks were still trading before the bell, while the CME said futures indexes and options trading would open fully at 8:30 a.m. Follow live markets updates here.

The stock market has rebounded during the holiday-shortened trading week. But the three major indexes are still on pace to end November’s trading month — which ends with today’s closing bell — in the red. The Dow and S&P 500 are poised to snap six-month winning streaks, while the Nasdaq Composite is on track to see its first negative month in eight.

Today’s trading session ends early at 1 p.m. ET.

2. Shopping and dropping

A Black Friday sale sign is displayed in a shop window at an outlet mall in Carlsbad, California, U.S., Nov. 25, 2025.

Mike Blake | Reuters

Black Friday was once considered the biggest in-person shopping day of the year, drawing huge crowds to stores in search of bargains. But while millions are still expected to partake in the occasion, it’s not what it used to be.

Here’s what to know:

  • In the past six years, online sales have outpaced brick-and-mortar spending on Black Friday. Data shows in-person foot traffic has been mostly flat over the last few years, as well.
  • No matter where they make their purchases, shoppers are also skeptical that they’re getting the best deals.
  • As CNBC’s Gabrielle Fonrouge reports, the shift has meant a change in strategy for many of the retail industry’s biggest names. Some have started offering their holiday sales earlier in the season, while others are spacing out their promotions.
  • Deloitte reported that the average consumer will shell out $622 between Nov. 27 and Dec. 1, a decrease of 4% from last year.
  • Even as the day of deals loses its allure, AT&T found that Gen Z participates the most, while their older counterparts do their shopping closer to Christmas.

3. AI comeback

Cfoto | Future Publishing | Getty Images

Alphabet has been a notable exception to the recent tech downturn. Shares of the Google parent have surged more than 13% this month as Wall Street sees the company as an AI leader.

Alphabet began the month by announcing its latest tensor processing units, or TPUs, called Ironwood. Last week, the company launched its latest AI model, Gemini 3, which caught positive attention from Silicon Valley heavyweights.

Shares of the stock are now up close to 70% this year, making it the best-performer within megacap tech. But experts told CNBC’s Jennifer Elias that Alphabet’s lead in the competitive AI market is marginal and could be hard to hold onto.

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4. Tech’s tug of wars

Alibaba announced plans to release a pair of smart glasses powered by its AI models. The Quark AI Glasses are Alibaba’s first foray into the smart glasses product category.

Alibaba

The Alphabet-Nvidia AI race isn’t the only tech rivalry that has heated up in recent days.

Alibaba‘s AI-powered smart glasses went on sale yesterday. With its new wearable tech offering, the Chinese tech company is going up against major players — namely Meta, which unveiled its smart glasses with Ray Ban in September.

Meanwhile, Counterpoint Research found Apple is poised to ship more smartphones than Samsung this year for the first time in 14 years. Apple is also poised to boast a larger market share, driven by strong iPhone 17 sales.

5. From Seoul to Los Angeles

Carly Xie looks over facial mask items at the Face Shop, which specializes in Korean cosmetics, in San Francisco, April 15, 2015.

Avila Gonzalez | San Francisco Chronicle | Hearst Newspapers | Getty Images

American shoppers are increasingly looking to South Korea for their cosmetics. NielsenIQ found U.S. sales of so-called “K-beauty” products are slated to surge more than 37% this year to above $2 billion.

Retailers ranging from beauty product hubs Ulta and Sephora to big-box chains Walmart and Costco are jumping on the trend. On top of that, Olive Young — aka the “Sephora of Seoul” — is opening its first U.S. store in Los Angeles next year.

The Daily Dividend

Here are some stories worth circling back to over the weekend:

CNBC’s Chloe Taylor, Gabrielle Fonrouge, Laya Neelakandan, Jessica Dickler, Sarah Min, Sean Conlon, Jennifer Elias, Arjun Kharpal and Luke Fountain contributed to this report. Josephine Rozzelle edited this edition.

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