News

Virtuzone Plans To Build V-Shaped Metaverse Skyscraper

The tower would offer a business ecosystem for freelancers, digital nomads, remote employees, and budding entrepreneurs.

Published

4 years ago

September 14, 2022

Nour Nasir

virtuzone plans to build v-shaped metaverse skyscraper

Not content with creating “Mr. Musky”, the world’s first metaverse salesperson, the UAE’s tech startup scene is aiming even higher, with plans to erect an entire office tower inside of the digital universe. The project will be managed and executed by Virtuzone, in collaboration with pax.world.

It will function in much the same way as a traditional brick-and-mortar building, serving the freelance and digital nomad economy and acting as a virtual office and meeting space.

The tower is simply called “The V” and it will offer a fully interactive ecosystem complete with video conferencing, event spaces, and other function rooms, as well as metaverse avatars and a comprehensive suite of communication tools.

The idea behind the project is to incorporate real services and solutions into a completely digital space, enabling seamless communication and networking, plus solutions for accounting and auditing. The tower will even act as a hub for establishing highly tax-efficient legal entities and help businesses utilize legal decentralized autonomous organization structures (DAOs) while pairing with real-world offices and mailing addresses.

virtuzone partnership with pax.world to build v-shaped metaverse skyscraper

“It is our vision as a company to be at the helm of creating a borderless business environment, where geographical boundaries do not exist, and entrepreneurs from all over the world enjoy the freedom to do business and transact with one another in a secure environment,” says George Hojeige, CEO of Virtuzone.

Also Read: Intel And Broadcom Show Off Super-Fast Wi-Fi 7 Technology

Millions of digital nomads and freelancers from around the globe will be drawn to the V tower, which will serve as a metaverse headquarters. The building will also bolster the UAE’s digital economy, attracting investors and helping to shape the region’s continual digital development.

News

Microsoft Plans $10 Billion-Plus Gulf Expansion Despite Iran Conflict

Security is shaping Microsoft’s approach, from resilience work with governments to what it will say about how the money splits by country.

Published

4 days ago

September 24, 2026

Nour Nasir

Microsoft

Microsoft is planning more than $10 billion of investment across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait through 2030, Vice Chair and President Brad Smith told Reuters, calling the spending schedule aggressive. The Iranian conflict that began on February 28 has not persuaded the company to scale back.

“We’re sustaining all the investments we planned to make before this conflict started, and we are in fact adding to them,” Smith said. The $10 billion-plus total does not, however, show how large those additions are.

The investment, which Smith described as part of Microsoft’s continued infrastructure expansion, is aimed at cloud and AI infrastructure and at the company’s growing regional operations. Microsoft also intends to put more than $400 million into subsea and terrestrial connectivity across the Middle East by 2030.

The spending fits the region’s own ambitions too. Gulf governments have been investing heavily in AI infrastructure as part of a push to diversify their economies beyond oil and gas and turn themselves into global technology hubs. Major cloud and AI providers have been drawn in part by the land and relatively low-cost energy on offer.

Microsoft is widening its partnerships with regional AI companies, though not on identical terms. In 2024, it invested $1.5 billion in Abu Dhabi-based G42 for a minority stake, and Smith currently sits on G42’s board. Saudi Arabia’s Humain and Qatar’s Qai are working with Microsoft on selected priority areas, but Smith said the company does not plan to make capital investments in either.

Also Read: Egypt’s Mobile Wallets Are Booming, But Cash Still Has Power

The conflict has added another strand to Microsoft’s work in the region. Since it began, Smith said, the company has supported regional partners with digital resilience assessments, and it is now working with Gulf countries through a digital resilience initiative focused on preparedness and the protection of critical data.

So far, the company has given no country-by-country breakdown of the investment, citing security among other factors. So while the headline figure is public, how Microsoft divides the spending among the four countries is not.