The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), managing $510 billion in assets, anticipates a surge in US technology investments following President Donald Trump’s inauguration. Mohammed Al Hardan, QIA’s head of technology, media and telecommunications, highlighted the presence of tech leaders like Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos at the inauguration as indicative of a tech-friendly administration. “I’ll be amazed if the environment is not pro tech,” Al Hardan told Bloomberg.
QIA has been actively investing in US technology, participating in a $6 billion funding round for xAI last year. The fund is poised to gain additional financial resources as Qatar expands its liquefied natural gas exports. Al Hardan expressed interest in joint ventures like the recent $500 billion AI infrastructure initiative between SoftBank Group Corp., OpenAI and Oracle Corp., noting, “We have a funds team that has been spending time with us to understand data centres and to review all these opportunities.”
The substantial capital required for AI investments presents opportunities for sovereign wealth funds like QIA. Al Hardan observed, “We’re seeing series A and B rounds in the multiple billions of dollars, and this is really unheard of in venture investing.”
Established in 2005 to manage Qatar’s liquefied natural gas revenues, QIA is the world’s eighth-largest sovereign fund. The anticipated increase in gas output could significantly boost the fund’s size in the coming years. QIA’s investment strategy is driven by commercial objectives, with a focus on sectors such as technology and healthcare. The fund has been shifting its portfolio towards the US to balance its European investments, as Qatar’s Finance Minister Ali Ahmed Al-Kuwari noted.
In 2024, Middle Eastern sovereign investors, including QIA, played a significant role in global dealmaking. According to Global SWF, five wealth funds from Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Saudi Arabia deployed $82 billion, accounting for over 60% of all sovereign wealth fund investments.
