--- description: Find out why Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan made TIME’s list of the most influential people in artificial intelligence. title: TIME100 AI 2024: Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta3933a31d91e3837/698a5a92cabb1de9e3e5483a/TIME100-AI-2024-SHAPERS_Sheikh-tahnoon-bin-zayed-al-nahyan-NEW.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Sep 05, 2024 # Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan by [Chad de Guzman](/author/chad-de-guzman/) ## Chad de Guzman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Reporter  Photo-Illustration by TIME (Source: Vahid Salem—AP) Everyone wants a piece of the enigmatic United Arab Emirates royal Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed al-Nahyan. As the steward of a [$1.5 trillion empire](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2024-04-25/the-gatekeepers-with-keys-to-abu-dhabi-s-1-5-trillion-royal-big-take "undefined"), including two sovereign wealth funds, Sheikh Tahnoun funnels billions of dollars into initiatives that are helping to transform the Gulf state into a global AI hub. Part of Sheikh Tahnoun’s empire is G42, an AI conglomerate founded in 2018 that has emerged as a Middle East tech titan, with businesses ranging from biotechnology to surveillance. The firm, boasting partnerships with the likes of OpenAI and Cerebras, recently secured a $1.5 billion deal with Microsoft. Sheikh Tahnoun—whose interest in AI goes back to IBM supercomputer Deep Blue’s 1997 defeat of Garry Kasparov in chess—called the Microsoft deal “a pivotal moment” and “a strategic alignment of vision and execution” in a [statement](https://news.microsoft.com/2024/04/15/microsoft-invests-1-5-billion-in-abu-dhabis-g42-to-accelerate-ai-development-and-global-expansion/ "undefined"). The deal comes after G42 divested from China, in what some see as a strategic move to align the UAE with Western tech giants amid concerns about Beijing’s increasing technological prowess. And earlier this year, the AI-focused fund MGX that Sheikh Tahnoun chairs was [reported](https://www.ft.com/content/d018067f-20e7-49eb-83dc-ebb8b1aad1a5 "undefined") to be in talks to back OpenAI's ambitious chip venture. [_Buy your copy of the TIME100 AI issue here_](https://magazineshop.us/TIME100AI "undefined") Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan: The 100 Most Influential People in AI 2024 ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-ai-2024/7012785/sheik-tahnoun-bin-zayed-al-nahyan/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-ai-2024/7012785/sheik-tahnoun-bin-zayed-al-nahyan/"},"headline":"Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan","datePublished":"2024-09-05T11:19:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T11:54:22.635Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/time100-ai-2024/7012785/sheik-tahnoun-bin-zayed-al-nahyan/","keywords":["Tech"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta3933a31d91e3837/698a5a92cabb1de9e3e5483a/TIME100-AI-2024-SHAPERS_Sheikh-tahnoon-bin-zayed-al-nahyan-NEW.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Chad de Guzman","jobTitle":"Reporter","url":"https://time.com/author/chad-de-guzman/"}],"creator":"Chad de Guzman","articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta3933a31d91e3837/698a5a92cabb1de9e3e5483a/TIME100-AI-2024-SHAPERS_Sheikh-tahnoon-bin-zayed-al-nahyan-NEW.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-ai-2024/7012785/sheik-tahnoun-bin-zayed-al-nahyan/","name":"Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"See Everyone on the 2024 TIME100 AI List","description":"The 2024 TIME100 AI list features innovators, thinkers, shapers and leaders who are making the future of AI.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/kDTs1aRd/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2024-09-05T10:50:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/kDTs1aRd.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/time100-ai-2024/7012785/sheik-tahnoun-bin-zayed-al-nahyan/","duration":"PT1M53S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/time100-ai-2024/7012785/sheik-tahnoun-bin-zayed-al-nahyan/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```