Stargate to arrive in the emirates: Abu Dhabi AI giant G42 is partnering with OpenAI to build Stargate UAE, the first international deployment of the US’ USD 500 bn Stargate AI infrastructure platform, according to a pressrelease.The partnership also includes Oracle, Nvidia, Cisco, and SoftBank, and is backed by US government coordination and support.

The agreement includes a 1 GW Stargate cluster in Abu Dhabi, with the first 200 MW set to go live in 2026. G42 will build the cluster, while OpenAI and Oracle will operate it. Stargate UAE is part of the 5 GW US-UAE data center cluster in Abu Dhabi — touted as the largest outside the US — that was announced last week during US President Donald Trump’s visit to the emirates.

The details: Stargate UAE will provide AI infrastructure within a 2k mile radius, potentially reaching half the world’s population, according to an OpenAI statement. The UAE will become the first country to enable nationwide ChatGPT access, integrating OpenAI tools into sectors like government, healthcare, and education.

Nvidia chips finally materialize: The new data center center will be supplied with Nvidia Grace Blackwell GB300 systems, the statement read. While a number wasn’t specified, it is estimated to be in the range of 100k chips, Reuters reports. This follows news that the US and UAE came to a parallel export agreement that could see the emirates receive 500k Nvidia chips annually.

REMEMBER- Washington has been in talks with Abu Dhabi and Riyadh over measures to prevent diversion of AI tech to China and prevent Chinese AI firms from accessing US-anchored data centers in the UAE, including potentially setting up data embassies, which are sovereign cloud zones exempt from local data laws.

Background: President Trump announced the US Stargate initiative earlier this year, with OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle committing USD 500 bn to build data centers nationwide. SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son will chair the venture, while OpenAI manages operations. Abu Dhabi AI investor MGX is contributing to the initial USD 100 bn phase of the Stargate AI infrastructure fund alongside Softbank and Oracle. MGX also participated in OpenAI’s USD 6.6 bn funding round last year.

The UAE will also commit funds to Stargate infrastructure in the US, the statements say, as part of the Stargate project. The UAE has committed USD 1.4 tn in investments in the US across AI infrastructure, semiconductors, energy, and manufacturing.

IN MORE US-UAE AI COOPERATION NEWS-

MBZUAI opens Silicon Valley post: The Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUA) opened the Institute of Foundation Models, a research lab in Silicon Valley, expanding its footprint into the US and connecting it to one of the world’s most advanced ecosystems of tech and AI players, according to a statement.

The university also launched its AI world model, PAN, which can simulate scenarios that can help hone and test AI agents, along with an agent that can also provide reasoning tasks, such as mathematics and coding. It’s also planning an update to its K2 LLM, which is set to exhibit better capabilities in mathematical problem-solving, code generation, and logical analysis with what it claims are fewer computational resources than comparable models. This is besides its flagship Arabic LLM, Jais.

Tags: