Core42 expands sovereign cloud push with 50-partner UAE program

Key Points

1. Core42 is offering dedicated cloud environments letting customers keep sensitive data inside their own borders.
2. The G42 unit serves over 500 government and corporate clients with roughly 1,100 AI and cloud specialists.
3. Demand for locally controlled computing is reshaping how banks, hospitals and ministries buy AI services.

The latest:

Dedicated cloud environments reserved for a single customer are now at the center of Core42’s offering, as the Abu Dhabi firm courts governments and companies bound by local data-protection rules. Mohammed Retmi, Vice President of the company’s Sovereign Cloud division, told The Circuit that mastering sovereignty is what sets the G42 subsidiary apart from shared-infrastructure rivals.

Details:

• The shift: Core42 previously concentrated on services where customers shared computing resources, with safeguards separating their information. The new options give clients greater control over where data is stored and processed, an approach the industry labels sovereign cloud, Retmi told The Circuit.
• The partner program: Core42 launched a program this month for software companies, startups and resellers to build and sell cloud and AI services in the UAE. It began with more than 50 partners and provides access to Microsoft Azure tools on a platform serving more than 47 Abu Dhabi government entities.
• Scale and ownership: The company reports more than 500 government and corporate customers and roughly 1,100 AI and cloud specialists. G42’s investors include Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala, Microsoft, US investment firm Silver Lake and the Dalio Family Office, according to The Circuit.
• International expansion: Core42 signed an October memorandum of understanding with Assolombarda to help manufacturers in Italy’s Lombardy region adopt AI. In June it said it had more than tripled computing capacity at its Lake Mariner site in New York to 60 megawatts, following $550 million in HSBC financing announced in May for US and European expansion.
• Domestic contracts: The UAE Central Bank signed an agreement in February for Core42 to build a secure computing platform for the financial sector, keeping critical banking information under national control. In March 2025, the Abu Dhabi government teamed with Core42 and Microsoft to shift services onto a locally controlled cloud, part of a $3.5 billion digital strategy running through 2027.
• Earlier deals: Those agreements followed 2024 partnerships with First Abu Dhabi Bank to move its computing operations to Microsoft Azure, and with Al Etihad Payments to develop the UAE’s Open Finance system, which lets customers share banking and insurance information with approved providers.
• Vendor choice: Core42’s Compass platform offers access to more than 50 AI models, and its systems support suppliers including Nvidia, AMD, Qualcomm, Cerebras and Microsoft. The company presents that range as an alternative to depending on a single provider.
• The trade-off: Retmi acknowledged dedicated systems can cost more to run and carry fewer features than shared services from global providers: “A private cloud will give you less number of features … but it’s more sovereign.” He added that foreign-made chips and equipment keep full independence out of reach, leaving less dependency rather than none.
• Outside view: Andreas Hassellöf, chief executive of Swiss technology company Ombori, told The Circuit that Core42 has proven valuable in letting governments switch providers without losing control of their systems. The real test over time, he said, is who holds the keys, who operates the platform, and how easily a ministry or bank could move its workloads.

Background:

Core42 was created in 2023 out of a merger of G42 businesses. G42 sits at the center of the UAE’s artificial intelligence strategy and counts Microsoft and Silver Lake among its backers, tying Abu Dhabi’s sovereign computing push to American technology partners.

Between the lines:

The sovereignty pitch runs on a tension the company itself names. Core42 sells local control while running Microsoft Azure tools and relying on Nvidia, AMD and Qualcomm hardware, and Retmi concedes the result is less dependency rather than independence. Hassellöf’s framing points to the same gap: portability and operational control, not autarky, are what buyers can realistically test.

What’s next

Watch whether the Assolombarda memorandum converts into signed contracts with Lombardy manufacturers, how fast the 50-partner UAE program grows, and further capacity additions at Lake Mariner beyond 60 megawatts.