OpenAI Expands Stargate Project to UAE with 1GW Data Center Cluster

OpenAI teams up with Cisco, Oracle to build UAE data center | TechCrunch

As rumored, OpenAI is expanding its ambitious Stargate data center project to the Middle East. On Thursday, the company announced Stargate UAE, which will bring a 1GW data center cluster to Abu Dhabi. OpenAI expects 200MW will go live in 2026, developed with partners including G42, Oracle, Nvidia, Cisco, and SoftBank. In a blog post, OpenAI claims that Stargate UAE has the potential to provide AI infrastructure and compute capacity within a 2,000-mile radius. "This is [...] the first partnership under OpenAI for Countries⁠, our new global initiative to help interested governments build sovereign AI capability in coordination with the U.S. government," writes OpenAI. "Under the partnership, the UAE will become the first country in the world to enable ChatGPT nationwide -- giving people across the country the ability to access OpenAI's technology." The unveiling of Stargate UAE comes the same week as billionaire Elon Musk said his AI company, xAI, would build the world's first "gigawatt" AI training cluster.

OpenAI says it will expand Stargate AI infrastructure project to the UAE, starting with a 1GW cluster

It's the first partnership under the new OpenAI for Countries initiative. OpenAI has today announced the launch of Stargate UAE, the first international deployment of its AI infrastructure platform, Stargate. The company says it will build a 1GB cluster in Abu Dhabi, and says that coordination with the U.S. government was vital in making the expansion possible. "Stargate represents our long-term vision for building frontier-scale compute capacity around the world in service of safe, secure, and broadly beneficial AGI," the company said in a press release. OpenAI says the move is also the first partnership under OpenAI for Countries, a global initiative to help interested governments build sovereign AI capability in coordination with the U.S. government, a scheme OpenAI says is "rooted in democratic values, open markets, and trusted partnerships." It includes partnerships with G42, Oracle, Nvidia, Cisco, and SoftBank, and the company also went to great pains to thank President Trump personally for his support in making the venture possible. As mentioned, OpenAI says it will build a 1GW Stargate UAE cluster in Abu Dhabi, with 200MW online by 2026. The partnership includes reciprocal UAE investment into the U.S. Stargate infrastructure, announced during President Trump's visit to the UAE last week. Announced in January, the Stargate AI project should see $500 billion in private sector investment from the aforementioned partner companies. The intention is to build 20 large data centers, creating around 100,000 jobs in the process. $100 billion of that investment is already available for immediate use, with the rest coming over the next four years. Each data center should measure 500,000 square feet (46,450 square meters), with construction of the first site in Texas already underway. As for application, the data centers should power advanced AI and artificial general intelligence with applications in areas such as healthcare. OpenAI says the initiative builds on this commitment, "and reinforces OpenAI's commitment to strengthening U.S. infrastructure while helping allies gain access to transformative AI responsibly and securely." It says OpenAI's tools will support the UAE in advancing government, energy, healthcare, education, and transportation, accelerating innovation. As part of the partnership, the UAE will become the first country in the world to enable nationwide ChatGPT access. OpenAI also says that it has engaged with other countries around the world interested in building their own Stargates.

OpenAI Announces Stargate Data Center Expansion in Abu Dhabi

OpenAI said it's helping to develop a major data center in the United Arab Emirates, a big overseas expansion of its Stargate effort to build out AI infrastructure. The ChatGPT maker is partnering on a 5-gigawatt data center cluster in Abu Dhabi with G42, an AI company backed by the country's sovereign wealth fund. As part of the deal, G42 plans to make a reciprocal dollar-for-dollar investment in AI infrastructure in the US, OpenAI said. Bloomberg previously reported OpenAI's plan to be an anchor tenant in the project.

'Stargate UAE' AI datacenter to begin operation in 2026

SAN FRANCISCO, May 22 (Reuters) - The first phase of a massive new artificial data center in the United Arab Emirates will come online in 2026, likely with 100,000 Nvidia chips. The "Stargate UAE" project is part of a deal brokered last week by U.S. President Donald Trump to build the world's largest set of AI data centers outside the United States, despite previous U.S. restrictions on sending advanced technology to the UAE because of its close ties to China. The 10-square-mile (26-sq-km) site in Abu Dhabi will eventually host 5 gigawatts worth of data centers. The first phase of that project will be the 1-gigawatt Stargate UAE project, built by state-backed UAE firm G42 in partnership with U.S. firms OpenAI, Oracle (ORCL.N), opens new tab, Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab and Cisco Systems(CSCO.O), opens new tab, as well as Japan's SoftBank Group (9984.T), opens new tab. The companies on Thursday said that the Stargate UAE project will use Nvidia's Grace Blackwell GB300 systems, currently the most advanced AI server that Nvidia offers. The first 200 megawatts of capacity will go live in 2026, the companies said. The group did not give a number of servers, but analyst firm TrendForce estimates that GB300 servers with 72 chips each consume about 140-kilowatts of power, which equates to about 1,400 servers or 100,000 Nvidia chips. This first-in-the-world platform will enable every UAE government agency and commercial institution to connect their data to the world's most advanced AI models," Larry Ellison, Oracle's chief technology officer and chairman, said in a statement. The Trump administration earlier this month rescinded a rule put in place by President Joe Biden that would have restricted the flow of AI chips to countries such as the UAE. The U.S. Commerce Department, which oversees export controls, has not said what will replace the rule but said last week that it will convene a working group between the U.S. and UAE to ensure that the project meets "robust U.S. security standards and other efforts to responsibly deploy AI infrastructure, both in the UAE and globally." Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Sandra Maler Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab Suggested Topics:Media & Telecom

OpenAI, Oracle, NVIDIA, SoftBank Group and Cisco partner for Stargate UAE AI campus

"AI is the most transformative force of our time," said Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang in a release Thursday. "With Stargate UAE, we are building the AI infrastructure to power the country's bold vision - to empower its people, grow its economy, and shape its future." The announcement confirms previous CNBC reporting on the project. During his Middle East tour last week, President Donald Trump and the U.S. Commerce Department announced a slew of new AI deals, including the UAE Stargate project slated for Abu Dhabi. The project, in collaboration with Emirati firm G42, will span 10 square miles and include a 5-gigawatt capacity. As part of the deal, OpenAI and Oracle are slated to manage a 1-gigawatt compute cluster built by G42. The project will include chips from Nvidia, while Cisco Systems and SoftBank will provide connectivity infrastructure. The companies said an initial 200-megawatt AI cluster should launch next year.

OpenAI, UAE will build massive Stargate AI center in Abu Dhabi

Why it matters: The deal is a huge AI bet by the Emirates, which will also secure ChatGPT Plus subscriptions for its entire population, making it the first country to do so. Driving the news: OpenAI and its partners will build a one gigawatt AI computing cluster in Abu Dhabi, with 200 megawatts of that expected to go live next year. The deal is a partnership with Oracle, Nvidia, Cisco, SoftBank and G42, a Middle East-based AI startup backed by Microsoft and others. The big picture: Trump's trip to the Gulf brought a slew of AI infrastructure announcements intended to forge a new AI alliance between the U.S. and the region's energy-rich powers. What they're saying: "By establishing the world's first Stargate outside of the U.S. in the UAE, we're transforming a bold vision into reality," OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a statement. "It's a step toward ensuring some of this era's most important breakthroughs -- safer medicines, personalized learning, and modernized energy -- can emerge from more places and benefit the world." Chris Lehane, OpenAI vice president of global affairs, told Axios that OpenAI hopes the deal will help "lead as many countries as possible onto the U.S. rails, into the U.S. AI system. This is a real moment in time to do that -- this is an important first brick in the road. There are two countries in the world that can build this at scale, and the U.S. has a lead." What's next: OpenAI says it wants the UAE deal to be the first of many such arrangements.

Tech giants Nvidia, OpenAI and others join forces for massive UAE Stargate AI data center

They were gathered to launch Stargate UAE, an AI infrastructure 1-gigawatt compute cluster located in the Persian Gulf country. This comes a week after President Trump visited the region and signed an agreement to build the largest AI campus outside the U.S., with a total 5-gigawatt capacity, of which Stargate will be a part. The Trump deal would also give the UAE access to advanced Nvidia chips, as many as 500,000, according to Reuters. In the closing days of the Biden administration, it contemplated denying the country access to American chips due to UAE's close ties with China. In particular, key Stargate partner G42 was considered a serious security threat by the CIA in 2023. Trump's team had no such concerns. G42 CEO Peng Xiao said in the press release that "this initiative is about building a bridge -- rooted in trust and ambition -- that helps bring the benefits of AI to economies, societies, and people around the world." Stargate UAE is an extension of a project announced in January by OpenAI with Microsoft (MSFT) and others, as a massive investment in AI infrastructure. OpenAI's Sam Altman said it would also "provide strategic capability to protect the national security of America and its allies." One of the many funders in the American Stargate is the UAE fund MGX. Microsoft was not listed as a partner in the UAE campus. Stargate U.S. plans to invest $500 billion over the next four years building new AI infrastructure in America. No price tag has yet been attached to the UAE campus. The facility, spanning 10-square miles in Abu Dhabi, will "be powered by nuclear, solar, and natural gas to minimize carbon emissions," said the press release.

OpenAI to build one-gigawatt Stargate data center in the UAE - SiliconANGLE

OpenAI today announced plans to build a large artificial intelligence data center in the United Arab Emirates. The facility is expected to consume one gigawatt of power at full capacity. One gigawatt corresponds to the electricity usage of about 700,000 homes. According to Reuters, it's believed that the data center will house about 100,000 graphics processing units. OpenAI is building the facility as part of a program called OpenAI for Countries that it debuted earlier this month. The initiative is modeled after Stargate, the ChatGPT's developer push to establish a network of AI data centers in the U.S. at a cost of up to $500 billion. OpenAI will help countries that join the program build their own AI infrastructure. The ChatGPT developer is partnering with Nvidia, Oracle Corp., Cisco Systems Inc., SoftBank Group Corp. and Emirati AI company G42 to build the upcoming UAE data center. The facility will be located on a 10-square-mile site in Abu Dhabi. The campus is expected to have five gigawatts' worth of data center capacity once it becomes fully operational. When OpenAI's facility comes online in 2026, it will reportedly have an initial capacity of 200 megawatts. That corresponds to one fifth of a gigawatt. The facility is expected to be equipped with Nvidia's GB300 appliances, its most advanced AI systems for data centers. The GB300 is based on the Blackwell Ultra B300, an upgraded version of Nvidia's Blackwell B200 chip. The company says that the former processor can perform some inference tasks 50% faster than the original. It also includes significantly more onboard memory. The larger memory pool allows AI models to keep more of their data in the Blackwell Ultra, which reduces the need to use slower off-chip RAM and thereby boosts processing. The original Blackwell B200 comprised two GPUs linked together by an interconnect. According to Nvidia, those graphics cards use a method called micro-tensor scaling to compress relatively large units of data into four-bit values. Shrinking datasets reduces the amount of time required to process them, which speeds up calculations. The GB300 system that OpenAI's UAE data center will use combines 72 Blackwell Ultra B300 chips with 36 of Nvidia Corp.'s Grace central processing units. Those CPUs collectively have 2,592 cores. The GPUs and CPUs are linked together by an Nvidia technology called NVLink C2C that can shuttle data between chips at a rate of 900 gigabytes per second. OpenAI hopes to launch similar projects in other markets. The company disclosed today that Jason Kwon, its Chief Strategy Officer, will launch a roadshow in the Asia Pacific region to promote the OpenAI for Countries program. The ChatGPT developer previously stated that its initial goal for the initiative is to launch AI projects in 10 countries or regions.

'Stargate UAE' AI datacenter to begin operation in 2026

The first phase of that project will be the 1-gigawatt Stargate UAE project, built by state-backed UAE firm G42 in partnership with US firms OpenAI, Oracle, Nvidia and Cisco Systems, as well as Japan's SoftBank Group. The companies on Thursday said that the Stargate UAE project will use Nvidia's Grace Blackwell GB300 systems, currently the most advanced AI server that Nvidia offers.The first phase of a massive new artificial data center in the United Arab Emirates will come online in 2026, likely with 100,000 Nvidia chips. The "Stargate UAE" project is part of a deal brokered last week by U.S. President Donald Trump to build the world's largest set of AI data centers outside the United States, despite previous U.S. restrictions on sending advanced technology to the UAE because of its close ties to China. The 10-square-mile (26-sq-km) site in Abu Dhabi will eventually host 5 gigawatts worth of data centers. The first phase of that project will be the 1-gigawatt Stargate UAE project, built by state-backed UAE firm G42 in partnership with US firms OpenAI, Oracle, Nvidia and Cisco Systems, as well as Japan's SoftBank Group. The companies on Thursday said that the Stargate UAE project will use Nvidia's Grace Blackwell GB300 systems, currently the most advanced AI server that Nvidia offers. The first 200 megawatts of capacity will go live in 2026, the companies said. The group did not give a number of servers, but analyst firm TrendForce estimates that GB300 servers with 72 chips each consume about 140-kilowatts of power, which equates to about 1,400 servers or 100,000 Nvidia chips. This first-in-the-world platform will enable every UAE government agency and commercial institution to connect their data to the world's most advanced AI models," Larry Ellison, Oracle's chief technology officer and chairman, said in a statement. The Trump administration earlier this month rescinded a rule put in place by President Joe Biden that would have restricted the flow of AI chips to countries such as the UAE. The U.S. Commerce Department, which oversees export controls, has not said what will replace the rule but said last week that it will convene a working group between the U.S. and UAE to ensure that the project meets "robust U.S. security standards and other efforts to responsibly deploy AI infrastructure, both in the UAE and globally."

OpenAI says it will build massive data centers in the UAE

Sam Altman, OpenAI's CEO, has spent more than a year evangelising for the global construction of huge data centers to help his company build powerful AI systems. The Emirati announcement is an indication that his wildly ambitious plan, called Stargate, may be starting to gain traction.OpenAI unveiled plans Thursday to build a massive computing complex in the United Arab Emirates, following a deal between the Trump administration and the Persian Gulf nation. The company's new facility is part of a joint venture with software giant Oracle, chipmaker Nvidia, Japanese conglomerate SoftBank, networking provider Cisco and G42, an Emirati artificial intelligence firm. The first of several data centers planned for the complex is expected to be up and running next year. G42 is also expected to contribute money to the construction of OpenAI data centers in the United States. For every dollar that the firm and its partners invest in the Emirates, they will invest an equivalent amount in the U.S. data centers, OpenAI said. While OpenAI did not say how much the new Emirati facility would cost, its size suggests G42 will invest tens of billions of dollars in each country. Sam Altman, OpenAI's CEO, has spent more than a year evangelising for the global construction of huge data centers to help his company build powerful AI systems. The Emirati announcement is an indication that his wildly ambitious plan, called Stargate, may be starting to gain traction. The complex arrangement overlaps with a separate agreement reached last week between the United States and the United Arab Emirates to build an AI campus in Abu Dhabi powered by 5 gigawatts of electrical power -- enough to power all the homes in Minnesota. The campus would be the largest project of its kind outside the United States. The Middle East data center plans have divided Washington. The Trump administration officials who drove the deal, including David Sacks, the White House's AI czar, have championed it as a way persuade the Gulf states to use and promote American AI technology rather than turning to China. But others in the administration and across Capitol Hill have expressed concern that the deal poses a threat to national security and risks turning the Middle East into an AI rival of the United States. "The administration decided to partner with one of the most sensitive regions in the world and picked this battle," said Pablo Chavez, an adjunct senior fellow who has written about AI infrastructure with the Center for a New American Security, a think tank. "The question is: Is this the blueprint and model for what the U.S. does in Asia, in Africa and Europe?" The Commerce Department and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In January, OpenAI, SoftBank and Oracle joined President Donald Trump in announcing that they would create at least $100 billion in computing infrastructure in the United States. Construction is underway on data centers in Abilene, Texas. Now, G42 is expected to contribute money to this effort. Total investments in the U.S. part of the Stargate project could reach $500 billion, OpenAI has said. OpenAI said Thursday that it would build a 1-gigawatt campus in the Emirates, with 200 megawatts -- one-fifth of the total -- expected to go live next year. A 1-gigawatt data center would cost $20 billion, according to figures OpenAI shared with the Biden administration last year. Other companies will build facilities totaling 4 gigawatts under the plan approved by the Trump administration for the Emirates. But it is unclear who these companies will be. The Trump administration, OpenAI and Nvidia, the world's dominant maker of chips for artificial intelligence, have championed building data centers in the Middle East sooner rather than later because U.S. technology companies now have an edge over their Chinese rivals. They warn that the Chinese giant Huawei, which is developing competitive artificial intelligence chips, is on the cusp of making enough chips to begin filling data centers outside China. "These are America First deals that drive investment into the U.S., improve our trade balance, and lock in American technology as the global standard," Sacks said in a social media post this week. Others in government and the tech industry are skeptical of those claims. They argue that Huawei is years behind Nvidia in manufacturing powerful chips at scale, partly because U.S. export controls have hobbled Chinese chipmakers. They also worry that the Trump administration didn't get Emirati security guarantees for limiting Chinese access to the chips, and they say the deals favor the Gulf States rather than the United States. "What happened to 'America First'?" said Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., during an appearance Sunday on ABC. "Why don't we put that center in Pennsylvania or in Ohio?" Altman called those critics "naive" in a social media post. To build AI technologies such as ChatGPT, companies like OpenAI, Google and Microsoft need data centers packed with thousands of computer chips and powered by enough electricity to run millions of ordinary American homes. OpenAI plans to eventually build five to 10 data center campuses in the United States, each requiring around 1.2 gigawatts of power. But it is unclear whether it will fulfill these plans; it has started construction on only the campus in Abilene. As these companies work to build data centers, they are exploring deals wherever they can find the money and the electrical power, including Europe, Asia and the Middle East. (The New York Times has sued OpenAI and its partner, Microsoft, claiming copyright infringement of news content related to AI systems. The two companies have denied the suit's claims.) As part of its partnership with OpenAI, the Emirates will become the first country to deploy ChatGPT nationwide, OpenAI said. Every citizen and resident will soon have free access to ChatGPT Plus, a service normally priced at $20 a month, the company said.

Stargate UAE: G42, OpenAI, Oracle, NVIDIA, SoftBank, Cisco to build AI cluster

Image: Supplied In a landmark move for artificial intelligence and international collaboration, G42, OpenAI, Oracle, NVIDIA, SoftBank Group, and Cisco announced their partnership to develop Stargate UAE, a next-generation AI compute cluster to be located at the newly established UAE-US AI Campus in Abu Dhabi. Read: UAE-US ties: Phase 1 of new 5GW AI campus launches in Abu Dhabi Spanning 10 square miles, the full campus is the largest such deployment outside of the US. It will provide 5 gigawatts of AI data centre capacity and regional compute resources. Stargate UAE will be built by G42 and operated by OpenAI and Oracle. As part of the collaboration, NVIDIA will provide its advanced Grace Blackwell GB300 systems, Cisco will contribute zero-trust security and AI-ready networking solutions, and SoftBank Group will support the initiative as a strategic partner. The initiative aims to deliver nation-scale compute capacity and low-latency inferencing, enabling high-performance AI solutions for an increasingly intelligent world. The facility will be powered by nuclear, solar, and natural gas to minimise carbon emissions and it will also house a science park driving innovation, talent development, and sustainable compute infrastructure. A 1GW Stargate UAE cluster in Abu Dhabi with 200MW is expected to go live in 2026. Stargate UAE partners share comments Sam Altman, co-founder and CEO of OpenAI, said, "By establishing the world's first Stargate outside of the US in the UAE, we're transforming a bold vision into reality. This is the first major milestone in our OpenAI for Countries initiative -- our effort to work with allies and partners to build AI infrastructure around the world. It's a step toward ensuring some of this era's most important breakthroughs -- safer medicines, personalized learning, and modernized energy -- can emerge from more places and benefit the world." Peng Xiao, Group CEO of G42, said, "The launch of Stargate UAE is a significant step in the UAE-US AI partnership. As a founding partner, we're proud to work alongside institutions that share our belief in responsible innovation and meaningful global progress. This initiative is about building a bridge - rooted in trust and ambition - that helps bring the benefits of AI to economies, societies, and people around the world." Larry Ellison, CTO and chairman of Oracle, said, "Stargate pairs Oracle's AI-optimized cloud with nation-scale sovereign infrastructure. This first-in- the-world platform will enable every UAE government agency and commercial institution to connect their data to the world's most advanced AI models. This landmark deployment sets a new standard for digital sovereignty and demonstrates how nation states can harness the power of the most important technology in the history of humankind." Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA, said, "AI is the most transformative force of our time. With Stargate UAE, we are building the AI infrastructure to power the country's bold vision - to empower its people, grow its economy, and shape its future." Masayoshi Son, chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group, said, "When we unveiled Stargate in the US with OpenAI and Oracle, we set out to build an engine for the next information revolution. Now, the UAE becomes the first nation beyond America to embrace this sovereign AI platform, proving the global nature of this vision. SoftBank is proud to support the UAE's leap forward. Bold investments, trusted partnerships, and national ambition can create a more connected, more joyful and more empowered world." Chuck Robbins, chair and CEO of Cisco, said, "Cisco is proud to join Stargate UAE to advance groundbreaking AI innovation in the UAE and around the world. By embedding our secure AI-optimised networking fabric for this international deployment, we're building smart, secure and energy- efficient networks that will turn intelligence into impact at global scale." US-UAE: Mutual benefits The initiative builds on OpenAI's unprecedented investment in US AI infrastructure announced in January with the launch of Stargate, reinforcing the company's commitment to bolstering American capabilities while enabling allies to access transformative AI in a secure and responsible manner. It also follows the UAE' pledge earlier this year to invest $1.4tn in the US -- a move expected to support job creation, drive economic growth, and help sustain America's technological leadership. OpenAI said in a statement: "Stargate UAE also represents the first partnership under OpenAI for Countries, our new initiative to help governments build sovereign AI capabilities in coordination with the US government -- anchored in democratic values, open markets, and trusted partnerships."

Massive Stargate UAE project to launch in 2026 with partners Nvidia,...

The first phase of a massive new artificial data center in the United Arab Emirates will come online in 2026, likely with 100,000 Nvidia chips. The "Stargate UAE" project is part of a deal brokered last week by President Trump to build the world's largest set of AI data centers outside the United States, despite previous US restrictions on sending advanced technology to the UAE because of its close ties to China. The 10-square-mile (26-sq-km) site in Abu Dhabi will eventually host 5 gigawatts worth of data centers. The first phase of that project will be the 1-gigawatt Stargate UAE project, built by state-backed UAE firm G42 in partnership with US firms OpenAI, Oracle, Nvidia and Cisco Systems, as well as Japan's SoftBank Group. The companies on Thursday said that the Stargate UAE project will use Nvidia's Grace Blackwell GB300 systems, currently the most advanced AI server that Nvidia offers. The first 200 megawatts of capacity will go live in 2026, the companies said. The group did not give a number of servers, but analyst firm TrendForce estimates that GB300 servers with 72 chips each consume about 140-kilowatts of power, which equates to about 1,400 servers or 100,000 Nvidia chips. This first-in-the-world platform will enable every UAE government agency and commercial institution to connect their data to the world's most advanced AI models," Larry Ellison, Oracle's chief technology officer and chairman, said in a statement. The Trump administration earlier this month rescinded a rule put in place by President Biden that would have restricted the flow of AI chips to countries such as the UAE. The Commerce Department, which oversees export controls, has not said what will replace the rule but said last week that it will convene a working group between the US and UAE to ensure that the project meets "robust US security standards and other efforts to responsibly deploy AI infrastructure, both in the UAE and globally."

OpenAI, G42, Oracle, NVIDIA, Softbank, and Cisco partner on Stargate UAE By Investing.com

Investing.com -- In a historic collaboration, OpenAI, G42, Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL), NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), SoftBank Group Corp. (TYO:9984), and Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO) announced plans on Thursday to build Stargate UAE, a 1-gigawatt, next-generation AI compute cluster in Abu Dhabi. The facility will serve as the centerpiece of the newly announced UAE-U.S. AI Campus, a 5-gigawatt deployment aimed at accelerating AI innovation and scientific discovery. Stargate UAE will be operated jointly by OpenAI and Oracle, with hardware support from NVIDIA's latest Grace Blackwell GB300 systems and security infrastructure from Cisco. Mass production is expected to begin in 2026, with the first 200-megawatt AI cluster slated to go live the same year. The full campus, spanning 10 square miles, will run on a mix of nuclear, solar, and natural gas, and will include a science park focused on sustainable compute and talent development. "This is the first major milestone in our OpenAI for Countries initiative," said Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI. "We're transforming a bold vision into reality... a step toward ensuring some of this era's most important breakthroughs -- safer medicines, personalized learning, and modernized energy " The announcement follows the recent launch of the U.S.-UAE AI Acceleration Partnership, an intergovernmental framework focused on building safe and responsible AI with long-term global benefits. Under the agreement, UAE organizations are also expected to deepen investment in U.S. infrastructure, including a parallel Stargate U.S. initiative. Industry leaders underscored the project's significance as a model for sovereign AI infrastructure. "With Stargate UAE, we are building the AI infrastructure to power the country's bold vision -- to empower its people, grow its economy, and shape its future," said NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang.

'Stargate UAE' AI datacenter to begin operation in 2026

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -The first phase of a massive new artificial data center in the United Arab Emirates will come online in 2026, likely with 100,000 Nvidia chips. The "Stargate UAE" project is part of a deal brokered last week by U.S. President Donald Trump to build the world's largest set of AI data centers outside the United States, despite previous U.S. restrictions on sending advanced technology to the UAE because of its close ties to China. The 10-square-mile (26-sq-km) site in Abu Dhabi will eventually host 5 gigawatts worth of data centers. The first phase of that project will be the 1-gigawatt Stargate UAE project, built by state-backed UAE firm G42 in partnership with U.S. firms OpenAI, Oracle, Nvidia and Cisco Systems, as well as Japan's SoftBank Group. The companies on Thursday said that the Stargate UAE project will use Nvidia's Grace Blackwell GB300 systems, currently the most advanced AI server that Nvidia offers. The first 200 megawatts of capacity will go live in 2026, the companies said. The group did not give a number of servers, but analyst firm TrendForce estimates that GB300 servers with 72 chips each consume about 140-kilowatts of power, which equates to about 1,400 servers or 100,000 Nvidia chips. This first-in-the-world platform will enable every UAE government agency and commercial institution to connect their data to the world's most advanced AI models," Larry Ellison, Oracle's chief technology officer and chairman, said in a statement. The Trump administration earlier this month rescinded a rule put in place by President Joe Biden that would have restricted the flow of AI chips to countries such as the UAE. The U.S. Commerce Department, which oversees export controls, has not said what will replace the rule but said last week that it will convene a working group between the U.S. and UAE to ensure that the project meets "robust U.S. security standards and other efforts to responsibly deploy AI infrastructure, both in the UAE and globally." (Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Sandra Maler)