Qatar’s Ooredoo will deploy Nvidia AI tech in regional data centers

Ooredoo to use Nvidia AI technology at regional data centers: Qatari multinational telecommunications firm Ooredoo Group has inked an agreement with US-based tech company Nvidia to deploy its AI technology at Ooredoo-owned data centers in five Middle Eastern countries, Reuters reports. The investment ticket for the agreement was not disclosed.

What we know: Nvidia’s full-stack platform for generative AI and advanced computing will be installed in Ooredoo data centers in Qatar, Algeria, Tunisia, Oman, Kuwait, and the Maldives, according to a statement.

A regional first: “Our b2b clients, thanks to this agreement, will have access to services that probably their competitors (won’t) for another 18 to 24 months,” Ooredoo CEO Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo told Reuters.

A timely foray into MENA: The move comes just as the US just this month curbed the exports of chips to MENA to limit access by Chinese companies to American tech through data centers. The UAE’s AI tech company G42 said earlier this year that it cut ties with China to address US concerns. While the US will allow the export of Nvidia technology to the Middle East, it will not include the company’s most sophisticated chips, according to the newswire.

Ooredoo is making moves: The firm is set to invest USD 1 bn to expand its regional data center capacity with an additional 20-25 MW on top of the 40 MW currently possessed, Fakhroo told the newswire.

About Ooredoo: The communications company offers mobile fixed, broadband internet and corporate operated services to markets in the Middle East and North Africa, according to its website. The firm is listed on the Qatar Exchange and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.