THIS MORNING: Masdar secures 2 GW from China’s JinkoSolar + Mubadala backs quantum computing firm

Good morning, friends. It’s looking a lot like the new normal, for now at least — maybe in the run-up to Eid? — is news dump day, everyday. Today’s issue is another meaty one, with big moves from Emirati companies including Phoenix Group, which is shifting from a pure BTC miner to a data center developer with a new contract in France, and Presight, which is scaling its defense technology amid a wider national focus on domestic security and resilience.

Plus: Our Big Story Today focuses on another big-ticket investment, this time in Syria, with Emaar and Eagle Hills head Mohamed Alabbar confirming he’s eyeing up to USD 18 bn in investments in the country.

ALSO- We have a lot of cross-border cooperation with none other than Saudi Arabia. Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank is lending Saudi-based trucking platform Trukker USD 300 mn, while fresh produce importer NRTC Holding Group and Saudi agribusiness Dava Agricultural inked an agreement on sourcing and supply chains.

AND- President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan spoke to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the phone about regional tensions and stabilization efforts, state news agency Wam reports. The two also discussed “fraternal relations” and “aspects of cooperation and coordination between the two countries.”

BACKGROUND- The call comes after a period when Emirati-Saudi relations were in the spotlight, following tensions over the two countries’ backing of different groups in the conflict in Yemen and concerns that the UAE’s exit from Opec exposes a rift between the two countries, despite UAE officials’ denial.

The president also spoke with US President Donald Trump, in a call that focused on ways to boost bilateral cooperation and regional developments, Wam reports elsewhere. UAE-US collaboration has been on a roll recently, particularly on AI and tech, with the two also reportedly discussing a currency swap line to boost liquidity for the UAE.

And while we’re on the topic of diplomacy: The government denied a statement from Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office claiming the Israeli leader “secretly visited” the Emirates sometime after the regional war broke out. Abu Dhabi also denies receiving any Israeli military delegation.

Another thing UAE officials want you to know?

There’s no fear of capital flight here. Chairman of the UAE bank federation Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair struck a note of confidence in the Emirates’ status as a hub for capital, saying that he doesn’t expect the war to affect banks or corporate earnings, in comments at a press conference picked up by Reuters. Al Ghurair said he expects “2Q [2026] will be better than 2Q 2025.”

ICYMI- Earlier in the conflict, analysts told us that foreign investors’ confidence would likely take a hit in the short to medium term, with the duration and scope of the war determining the magnitude of outflows. Foreign investors had pulled USD 120 bn out of the Emirates during the early days of the conflict. However, capital markets have been in a phase of relative recovery in recent weeks.

WEATHER- Abu Dhabi will see a high of 40°C today, before it cools down to 28°C overnight, while Dubai will see the mercury reach 38°C before cooling to 29°C.

Watch this space

ENERGY — Chinese solar manufacturer JinkoSolar will supply Masdar with 2 GW of its high-efficiency Tiger Neo solar modules for Abu Dhabi’s first round-the-clock renewable energy project, according to a statement. Masdar broke ground on the project last October.

Masdar and Ewec are setting up the USD 6 bn solar and battery energy facility, combining 5.2 GW of solar capacity and 19 GWh of battery storage to provide 1 GW of uninterrupted clean power. The facility is set to be one of the largest of its kind once operational in 2027.

AI — The UAE and South Korea are looking to deepen AI cooperation. The Investment Ministry led a delegation to South Korea this week to discuss expanding partnerships tied to AI, data centers, semiconductors, and wider AI infrastructure, state news agency Wam reports. The discussions came during the Korea-UAE AI Infrastructure and Semiconductor Investment Cooperation Forum, which was launched under a joint working group set up during the UAE visit to South Korea last year.

Who was involved? The Emirati delegation included heavyweights from both the AI and investment sectors, with the likes of Abu Dhabi AI investor MGX, Mubadala, G42’s sovereign cloud and generative AI subsidiary Core42, and Adia attending the talks.

ICYMI- Earlier this year, the UAE and Korea inked a USD 35 bn MoU on defense cooperation, in a tie-up spanning the entire defense industry cycle.

INVESTMENT — Mubadala Capital joined a USD 200 mn funding round for Vancouver-based quantum computing firm Photonic Inc., according to a press release. The round, led by the UK’s Planet First Partners and joined by the likes of Development Bank of Canada, Export Development Canada, and existing investor Microsoft, values the company at USD 2 bn and brings its total capital raised to over USD 350 mn. The size of Mubadala's investment was not disclosed.

What does Photonic do? Unlike most quantum players trying to build one large, isolated machine, the firm builds smaller units that can be linked together and scaled up as needed, according to its website. The units can connect over standard fiber-optic cables — the same kind that carries the world’s internet traffic — instead of requiring entirely new infrastructure.

Why this matters: Photonic’s architecture is designed to work over existing global telecom fiber infrastructure, which the UAE is actively expanding through projects like the 2Africa subsea cable. Watch for whether this technology starts finding its way into the UAE’s own digital infrastructure as it looks to bolster its position as a global AI and data hub.

IN CONTEXT- As we’ve previously noted, regional tensions are pushing SWFs like Mubadala to prioritize sectors supporting economic resilience and strategic supply chains — this investment gives it a slice of technology that could set the UAE up for success as it deepens its push in quantum computing and AI. The investment also comes on the heels of last year’s USD 50 bn investment framework focused on high-growth sectors including energy, AI, and logistics.

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The big story abroad

The highly-anticipated Trump-Xi meeting is happening as we’re pressing send this morning. The meeting is expected to see President Donald Trump ask his Chinese counterpart to “open up” the world’s second biggest economy to US investment. The US side is also expected to press Beijing to pressure Iran to “walk away from what it is doing in the Gulf,” Reuters said, citing comments by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

It’s official: The US Senate has confirmed Kevin Warsh as the next head of the Federal Reserve, taking over from outgoing chief Jerome Powell, whose term officially ends this Friday. Warsh, a longtime advocate for rate cuts, will take over during a period of high inflation and internal dissent in the Fed. We dive deeper into upcoming Fed moves and what they could mean for the region in this morning’s Planet Finance, below.

Two blockbuster IPOs are the latest sign that the AI hype is alive and well, highlighting the strong and ongoing appetite investors have for AI-focused companies. AI chipmaker Cerebras Systems raked in USD 5.5 bn in its IPO, bringing its value to roughly USD 40 bn, while the IPO of Blackstone’s newly-formed Digital Infrastructure Trust raised USD 1.75 bn, which will go towards buying data centers to support AI computing.

The future of private credit is once again making headlines after former Securities and Exchange Commission chair Jay Clayton said that there is no evidence that the US private credit sector suffers “excess leverage.” The comments follow heavy losses in the sector, fueled by fears that AI disruption could cripple the debt-heavy software firms it supports.

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