Abu Dhabi–based G42 is moving forward with a major artificial intelligence data center project in partnership with OpenAI, reinforcing the UAE’s ambition to become a global AI infrastructure hub. According to the latest Bloomberg report, the facility is being developed as part of the Stargate UAE initiative, which is expected to become one of the largest AI data center campuses outside the United States.
A key highlight of the project is its enormous scale. The first phase is expected to deliver 200 megawatts of capacity in 2026, with long-term plans to expand to 1 gigawatt of AI compute power. The data center is designed to host advanced AI workloads for OpenAI and other US technology partners, using cutting-edge infrastructure including NVIDIA chips and high-performance compute clusters. This reflects the growing global demand for compute resources needed to train and run large AI models.
The project is strategically important because it positions the UAE as a major player in the international AI race. Through G42’s collaboration with OpenAI, Oracle, Nvidia, and other partners, the region is building capacity not only for domestic innovation but also for global AI deployment, cloud services, and sovereign compute infrastructure. This move also aligns with broader efforts by the UAE to diversify its economy beyond oil and invest heavily in future technologies.
Overall, the data center initiative shows how AI competition is increasingly centered on infrastructure leadership and compute dominance. By pushing ahead with this large-scale project, G42 and OpenAI are helping transform the UAE into a key global node for next-generation artificial intelligence systems and data center operations.
