du to build 500k sqm 1 GW AI Park in Dubai: Telco du plans to develop a 500k sqm AI Park in Dubai’s Warsan district, to be developed in phases over five years, according to a press release. The park will host hyperscale, liquid-cooled data centers with up to 1 GW capacity, alongside AI research labs and startup incubators as part of efforts to expand the UAE’s sovereign AI infrastructure.

The company also introduced a new National Hybrid AI platform at Gitex. The platform will allow government entities and enterprises to build and deploy AI applications across du’s sovereign cloud infrastructure, integrating with its 5G and fiber networks.

REMEMBER- Du is also building a AED 2 bn hyperscale data center in the UAE for Microsoft, which will be its main tenant. The state-owned telecoms firm currently operates five data centers across the UAE.

We already have a massive AI park set to be set up in Abu Dhabi: The US and the UAE are partnering on Stargate UAE, set to be the first deployment of the US’ wider USD 500 bn Stargate infrastructure platform. It will be part of a wider 5 GW US-UAE AI data center cluster in Abu Dhabi and host US tenants including OpenAI.

Speaking of Stargate… US AI chipmaker Cerebras Systems plans to deploy its infrastructure in the UAE to support the country’s rapidly growing AI sector, CEO Andrew Feldman told Reuters. The rollout will include “megawatts worth of equipment” for Stargate UAE.

REMEMBER-Abu Dhabi’s G42 invested USD 335 mn in Cerebras in April after restructuring the transaction to acquire non-voting shares. Further back in 2023, the two signed an agreement for G42 to secure Cerebras supercomputers, however Trump administration restrictions have blocked exports so far, the news outlet said. The company recently raised USD 1.1 bn and withdrew its US listing plans, with Feldman saying Cerebras still intends to go public and will “refile it as quickly as we can.”

Cerebras is also targeting a broader global expansion, with plans to grow its data center footprint from six sites to as many as 12-15 in the coming months. The UAE hub will serve as a key center for regional operations, including markets in India and Pakistan, Feldman said.

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