OpenAI is reportedly set to become a key tenant in an extraordinary data centre development in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, which is poised to become one of the largest artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure projects globally. This ambitious undertaking involves the construction of a vast campus with a power capacity of 5 gigawatts—equivalent to the output of five nuclear power stations—spanning approximately ten square miles, an area larger than the entire principality of Monaco.
The initiative, known as the UAE Stargate project, is led by G42, a prominent Emirati technology conglomerate chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s national security advisor. G42 is collaborating with major global technology companies including OpenAI, SoftBank, Oracle, Nvidia, and Cisco to establish this data centre complex. The venture aims to position Abu Dhabi as a strategic hub for AI services, targeting nearly half of the world’s population with state-of-the-art computing capabilities.
OpenAI’s involvement, while not yet officially confirmed, is expected to be a central element of this venture, marking a crucial expansion of its international infrastructure network. The company’s first Stargate campus in Abilene, Texas, currently under construction, is projected to have a capacity of 1.2 gigawatts, making the Abu Dhabi facility more than four times larger in terms of power capacity.
This monumental project emerges amid growing technological cooperation between the United States and the UAE, formalised recently through agreements to promote AI development beyond U.S. borders.
However, the collaboration has not been without controversy. G42’s connections with entities blacklisted by the U.S., such as Huawei and the Beijing Genomics Institute, as well as ties to individuals linked to Chinese intelligence, have raised concerns among American lawmakers. In response, G42’s CEO announced the divestment of Chinese investments and a withdrawal from any physical presence in China in order to address these security concerns.
Microsoft, a major investor in OpenAI, has also strengthened its engagement with G42, investing $1.5 billion and appointing its president, Brad Smith, to G42’s board, thereby further cementing U.S.-UAE technological ties.
The Abu Dhabi data centre is designed to utilise a diverse energy mix-including nuclear, solar, and gas-to power its extensive computing infrastructure sustainably. This facility will serve as a regional platform for AI processing and cloud services, significantly reducing latency and boosting AI accessibility for users across the Middle East, Africa, and parts of Asia.
The project is expected to stimulate substantial investment in AI research and commercial applications throughout the region, attracting additional technology partners and fostering innovation ecosystems aligned with the UAE’s Vision 2031 strategy. The scale and ambition of the development highlight the growing importance of AI infrastructure in global technological competition and economic growth.
If OpenAI finalises its role as the anchor tenant, the Abu Dhabi data centre will not only elevate the UAE’s standing in the international AI arena but also exemplify a new model of cross-border collaboration in high-performance computing. The completion of this project is likely to inspire further large-scale AI infrastructure initiatives worldwide, as demand for advanced AI capabilities continues to increase.