G42 heads to Italy: State AI firm G42 signed an agreement with Italian AI startup iGenius to build what the companies claim will be “the largest AI compute deployment in Europe,” according to a joint statement. The project to help develop supercomputer Colosseum will require some USD 1 bn in investments over five years, and will utilize Nvidia Blackwell GPUs, Reuters reports.

The details: The facility will likely be located in Puglia, Italy’s Industry Minister Adolfo Urso said. G42 will lead financing for the initial phase, with Core42 taking charge of the project as its operator. The supercomputer is set to go live this summer.

The agreement falls under a broader UAE-Italy cooperation framework announced in February, when the UAE pledged USD 40 bn in investment across Italian sectors, including AI. The two countries signed an MoU to expand cooperation in digital infrastructure and AI that same month, while Abu Dhabi-based Bold Technologies signed a USD 2.5 bn agreement with Italian AI firm Synapsia in March to deploy AI city management solutions in the UAE.

ICYMI- G42 is set to receive a share of Nvidia chips: The US and UAE reportedly finalized a framework for an AI chip export agreement last week, as Trump moves to roll-back Biden-era AI export restrictions. The agreement would allow the UAE to receive up to 500k of Nvidia’s most advanced chips annually, with around 20% earmarked for G42. The remaining chips would support US-firm-led data centers, including a potential OpenAI site in the region.

The story got ink from Reuters.

Tags: