At a recent event in Seattle, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman appeared via screen as the company revealed a groundbreaking partnership with G42, a prominent firm from the United Arab Emirates. Together, they plan to develop a massive artificial intelligence data center in Abu Dhabi. This venture marks OpenAI’s first major project outside of the United States.
The initiative, named Stargate UAE, will boast a 1-gigawatt capacity, making it one of the largest and most powerful AI data centers globally. It reflects the U.A.E.’s increasing drive to become a leading investor in AI technologies, infrastructure, and employment opportunities. G42, which is headed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan—brother to the U.A.E. president and the country’s national security adviser—is leading the project.
According to OpenAI, an upgraded version of ChatGPT will be offered free of charge nationwide as part of the initiative. Construction is scheduled to begin with a 200-megawatt phase, expected to be completed by the end of 2026, though the full scope of the project has yet to be finalized. G42 is funding the construction, while operations will be jointly managed by OpenAI and Oracle. Other key partners include Nvidia, Cisco, and SoftBank.
Though no official cost has been disclosed, comparable U.S. projects often surpass $10 billion.
This development follows months of negotiations between U.A.E. officials and the Trump administration, culminating in a deal to permit the import of up to 500,000 AI chips per year. This agreement bypassed previous Biden-era restrictions that had limited such exports due to fears of the technology reaching adversarial nations like China.
To win over U.S. officials, the U.A.E. pledged to invest $1.4 trillion into the American economy, used $2 billion in cryptocurrency from Trump’s World Liberty Financial to support a crypto venture, and hosted major U.S. tech CEOs at a royal palace in Abu Dhabi.
Furthermore, as part of the bilateral deal, the U.A.E. committed to financing AI infrastructure within the U.S. that matches or exceeds that of the Stargate UAE project. The Gulf nation’s MGX fund is already an investor in the $100 billion Stargate data center network planned across the United States by OpenAI and SoftBank.
More agreements with U.S. tech companies are anticipated, especially as the U.A.E. seeks occupants for its upcoming 5-gigawatt data-center cluster. The project was formally introduced during former President Trump’s recent visit, where a detailed model was showcased.
The strategic location of these data centers in the Gulf is also meant to provide faster data access to regions like Africa and India.
The announcement aligns with a busy week for OpenAI, which also secured $11.6 billion in funding to expand a Texas-based data center and acquired former Apple designer Jony Ive’s startup for $6.5 billion.
