Microsoft will invest $15.2 billion in the United Arab Emirates over the next four years, the company announced Monday at the first annual Abu Dhabi Global AI Summit. The investment will include the first-ever shipments of the most advanced Nvidia GPUs to the UAE.
As part of the deal, the U.S. has granted Microsoft a license to export Nvidia chips to the UAE, a move that positions the country as both a proving ground for U.S. export-control diplomacy and a regional anchor of American AI influence.
The deal allows Microsoft to expand its foothold into the Middle East, a key region in the global fight for AI dominance. In May, President Donald Trump struck a deal with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan to build an AI data center campus in Abu Dhabi. The project was delayed due to U.S. export controls, which restricted the sale of powerful Nvidia chips needed to run advanced AI systems.
Microsoft became the first company to receive a license from the U.S. Commerce Department to ship the chips to the UAE in September. The move comes as critics say the deal undermines the logic of the U.S.’s export restrictions to China by introducing possible back-channels through a Chinese ally.
In a statement, Microsoft said it performed substantial work to meet the strong cybersecurity and national security conditions required by the licenses, which has enabled the firm to accumulate the equivalent of 21,500 Nvidia A100 GPUs in the UAE, based on a combination of A100, H100, and H200 chips.
Microsoft said it is using the chips to provide access to AI models from OpenAI, Anthropic, open-source providers, and itself.
The $15.2 billion figure includes money Microsoft began spending in the UAE starting in 2023 as part of a new AI initiative in the country. Between 2023 and the end of 2025, Microsoft will have spent just over $7.3 billion in the UAE, including a $1.5 billion equity investment in G42, the UAE’s sovereign AI company, and more than $4.6 billion in capital towards data centers.
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As part of the new deal, Microsoft pledges to spend $7.9 billion more in the UAE from the start of 2026 to the end of 2029, including $5.5 billion in capital expenses for ongoing and planned expansion of AI and cloud infrastructure. Microsoft hinted at new steps it will share publicly in Abu Dhabi this week.
Microsoft’s work in the UAE goes beyond building data centers. The company says it is pairing massive AI infrastructure with deep investment in local talent, training, and governance. The firm is pledging to train a million residents by 2027 and use Abu Dhabi as a regional hub for AI research and model development.
The investment comes the same day that Microsoft signed a $9.7 billion deal with Australia’s IREN for AI cloud capacity.
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![Kevin Feige Has Finally Admitted ‘Blade’ Probably Isn’t Happening
“There’s only been one Blade. There’s only ever gonna be one Blade.” When Wesley Snipes spoke those lines in 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine, audiences cackled. Sure, Deadpool and the characters around him love to make self-referential jokes, but something about Snipes—playing Blade for the first time since 2004’s Blade: Trinity—delivering the joke hit extra hard. Comic-book movie lovers know, of course, that Marvel announced a Blade reboot starring Mahershala Ali all the way back in 2019. It’s had a stop-and-start progression since then and slowly became a bit of a punchline, with many fans coming to believe it would never actually happen. It’s not unheard of in Hollywood that a movie gets announced, then never actually goes into production. But it is unusual when a high-profile Marvel project starring a two-time Oscar winner that was trumpeted from the Hall H stage at San Diego Comic-Con gets quietly shoved to the bottom of the TBD list.
However, Marvel hadn’t made any statement putting Blade to rest until very recently, when Happy Sad Confused podcast host Josh Horowitz came right out and asked Marvel head Kevin Feige for an update on the status of Blade. Horowitz shared the clip in an Instagram reel you can watch here, but this is what they said:
“How much time in therapy have you spent talking about Blade?” Horowitz joked to Feige. “This poor project. We just need to get this done, Kevin … We all want it. Mahershala wants it. How are you feeling at this moment?” Feige replied, “I’m feeling very excited that we got Wesley back for a time in Deadpool & Wolverine and like a gigantic loser and a failure that we didn’t get off the ground with Mahershala.” So he doesn’t say there will never, ever be a new Blade film, no matter what Deadpool & Wolverine would have us believe. But it sure sounds like the Mahershala Ali Blade movie is no longer in play.
Horowitz also asked if there’s a chance Secret Wars could be two films (no), if Doomsday is sticking to its release date (yes), and what the MCU will look like after Secret Wars arrives in late 2027. “I look to the comics as I always do in terms of our storytelling,” Feige said, after noting he doesn’t consider Secret Wars to be a reboot. “And after both the Secret Wars, but particularly the [Jonathan] Hickman Secret Wars from 10 years ago, there’s a nice road map to where we can go.” Horowitz also asked if any actors have signed on for X-Men characters that we don’t know about yet, and Feige said, with supreme vagueness, “Not necessarily.” Perhaps we’ll learn more about that when Marvel’s Hall H panel happens this weekend at San Diego Comic-Con. Marvel didn’t hold its traditional Saturday night panel in 2025, so Feige and company have some catching up to do. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who. #Kevin #Feige #Finally #Admitted #Blade #Isnt #HappeningBlade,Kevin Feige,Marvel](https://i2.wp.com/gizmodo.com/app/uploads/2026/07/Blade_DeadpoolWolverine-1280x853.jpg?ssl=1 "Kevin Feige Has Finally Admitted ‘Blade’ Probably Isn’t Happening
“There’s only been one Blade. There’s only ever gonna be one Blade.” When Wesley Snipes spoke those lines in 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine, audiences cackled. Sure, Deadpool and the characters around him love to make self-referential jokes, but something about Snipes—playing Blade for the first time since 2004’s Blade: Trinity—delivering the joke hit extra hard. Comic-book movie lovers know, of course, that Marvel announced a Blade reboot starring Mahershala Ali all the way back in 2019. It’s had a stop-and-start progression since then and slowly became a bit of a punchline, with many fans coming to believe it would never actually happen. It’s not unheard of in Hollywood that a movie gets announced, then never actually goes into production. But it is unusual when a high-profile Marvel project starring a two-time Oscar winner that was trumpeted from the Hall H stage at San Diego Comic-Con gets quietly shoved to the bottom of the TBD list.
However, Marvel hadn’t made any statement putting Blade to rest until very recently, when Happy Sad Confused podcast host Josh Horowitz came right out and asked Marvel head Kevin Feige for an update on the status of Blade. Horowitz shared the clip in an Instagram reel you can watch here, but this is what they said:
“How much time in therapy have you spent talking about Blade?” Horowitz joked to Feige. “This poor project. We just need to get this done, Kevin … We all want it. Mahershala wants it. How are you feeling at this moment?” Feige replied, “I’m feeling very excited that we got Wesley back for a time in Deadpool & Wolverine and like a gigantic loser and a failure that we didn’t get off the ground with Mahershala.” So he doesn’t say there will never, ever be a new Blade film, no matter what Deadpool & Wolverine would have us believe. But it sure sounds like the Mahershala Ali Blade movie is no longer in play.
Horowitz also asked if there’s a chance Secret Wars could be two films (no), if Doomsday is sticking to its release date (yes), and what the MCU will look like after Secret Wars arrives in late 2027. “I look to the comics as I always do in terms of our storytelling,” Feige said, after noting he doesn’t consider Secret Wars to be a reboot. “And after both the Secret Wars, but particularly the [Jonathan] Hickman Secret Wars from 10 years ago, there’s a nice road map to where we can go.” Horowitz also asked if any actors have signed on for X-Men characters that we don’t know about yet, and Feige said, with supreme vagueness, “Not necessarily.” Perhaps we’ll learn more about that when Marvel’s Hall H panel happens this weekend at San Diego Comic-Con. Marvel didn’t hold its traditional Saturday night panel in 2025, so Feige and company have some catching up to do. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who. #Kevin #Feige #Finally #Admitted #Blade #Isnt #HappeningBlade,Kevin Feige,Marvel")
![Kevin Feige Has Finally Admitted ‘Blade’ Probably Isn’t Happening
“There’s only been one Blade. There’s only ever gonna be one Blade.” When Wesley Snipes spoke those lines in 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine, audiences cackled. Sure, Deadpool and the characters around him love to make self-referential jokes, but something about Snipes—playing Blade for the first time since 2004’s Blade: Trinity—delivering the joke hit extra hard. Comic-book movie lovers know, of course, that Marvel announced a Blade reboot starring Mahershala Ali all the way back in 2019. It’s had a stop-and-start progression since then and slowly became a bit of a punchline, with many fans coming to believe it would never actually happen. It’s not unheard of in Hollywood that a movie gets announced, then never actually goes into production. But it is unusual when a high-profile Marvel project starring a two-time Oscar winner that was trumpeted from the Hall H stage at San Diego Comic-Con gets quietly shoved to the bottom of the TBD list.
However, Marvel hadn’t made any statement putting Blade to rest until very recently, when Happy Sad Confused podcast host Josh Horowitz came right out and asked Marvel head Kevin Feige for an update on the status of Blade. Horowitz shared the clip in an Instagram reel you can watch here, but this is what they said:
“How much time in therapy have you spent talking about Blade?” Horowitz joked to Feige. “This poor project. We just need to get this done, Kevin … We all want it. Mahershala wants it. How are you feeling at this moment?” Feige replied, “I’m feeling very excited that we got Wesley back for a time in Deadpool & Wolverine and like a gigantic loser and a failure that we didn’t get off the ground with Mahershala.” So he doesn’t say there will never, ever be a new Blade film, no matter what Deadpool & Wolverine would have us believe. But it sure sounds like the Mahershala Ali Blade movie is no longer in play.
Horowitz also asked if there’s a chance Secret Wars could be two films (no), if Doomsday is sticking to its release date (yes), and what the MCU will look like after Secret Wars arrives in late 2027. “I look to the comics as I always do in terms of our storytelling,” Feige said, after noting he doesn’t consider Secret Wars to be a reboot. “And after both the Secret Wars, but particularly the [Jonathan] Hickman Secret Wars from 10 years ago, there’s a nice road map to where we can go.” Horowitz also asked if any actors have signed on for X-Men characters that we don’t know about yet, and Feige said, with supreme vagueness, “Not necessarily.” Perhaps we’ll learn more about that when Marvel’s Hall H panel happens this weekend at San Diego Comic-Con. Marvel didn’t hold its traditional Saturday night panel in 2025, so Feige and company have some catching up to do. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who. #Kevin #Feige #Finally #Admitted #Blade #Isnt #HappeningBlade,Kevin Feige,Marvel](https://gizmodo.com/app/uploads/2026/07/Blade_DeadpoolWolverine-1280x853.jpg "Kevin Feige Has Finally Admitted ‘Blade’ Probably Isn’t Happening
“There’s only been one Blade. There’s only ever gonna be one Blade.” When Wesley Snipes spoke those lines in 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine, audiences cackled. Sure, Deadpool and the characters around him love to make self-referential jokes, but something about Snipes—playing Blade for the first time since 2004’s Blade: Trinity—delivering the joke hit extra hard. Comic-book movie lovers know, of course, that Marvel announced a Blade reboot starring Mahershala Ali all the way back in 2019. It’s had a stop-and-start progression since then and slowly became a bit of a punchline, with many fans coming to believe it would never actually happen. It’s not unheard of in Hollywood that a movie gets announced, then never actually goes into production. But it is unusual when a high-profile Marvel project starring a two-time Oscar winner that was trumpeted from the Hall H stage at San Diego Comic-Con gets quietly shoved to the bottom of the TBD list.
However, Marvel hadn’t made any statement putting Blade to rest until very recently, when Happy Sad Confused podcast host Josh Horowitz came right out and asked Marvel head Kevin Feige for an update on the status of Blade. Horowitz shared the clip in an Instagram reel you can watch here, but this is what they said:
“How much time in therapy have you spent talking about Blade?” Horowitz joked to Feige. “This poor project. We just need to get this done, Kevin … We all want it. Mahershala wants it. How are you feeling at this moment?” Feige replied, “I’m feeling very excited that we got Wesley back for a time in Deadpool & Wolverine and like a gigantic loser and a failure that we didn’t get off the ground with Mahershala.” So he doesn’t say there will never, ever be a new Blade film, no matter what Deadpool & Wolverine would have us believe. But it sure sounds like the Mahershala Ali Blade movie is no longer in play.
Horowitz also asked if there’s a chance Secret Wars could be two films (no), if Doomsday is sticking to its release date (yes), and what the MCU will look like after Secret Wars arrives in late 2027. “I look to the comics as I always do in terms of our storytelling,” Feige said, after noting he doesn’t consider Secret Wars to be a reboot. “And after both the Secret Wars, but particularly the [Jonathan] Hickman Secret Wars from 10 years ago, there’s a nice road map to where we can go.” Horowitz also asked if any actors have signed on for X-Men characters that we don’t know about yet, and Feige said, with supreme vagueness, “Not necessarily.” Perhaps we’ll learn more about that when Marvel’s Hall H panel happens this weekend at San Diego Comic-Con. Marvel didn’t hold its traditional Saturday night panel in 2025, so Feige and company have some catching up to do. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who. #Kevin #Feige #Finally #Admitted #Blade #Isnt #HappeningBlade,Kevin Feige,Marvel")
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