Racks of servers at a data centre in Moscow. Investments into 1GW Stargate UAE will reportedly be in the $20 billion range, according to OpenAI. Bloomberg
Racks of servers at a data centre in Moscow. Investments into 1GW Stargate UAE will reportedly be in the $20 billion range, according to OpenAI. Bloomberg
Racks of servers at a data centre in Moscow. Investments into 1GW Stargate UAE will reportedly be in the $20 billion range, according to OpenAI. Bloomberg
Insight and opinion from The National’s editorial leadership
May 26, 2025
When one thinks about data centres – physical spaces used to host the IT infrastructure that forms the backbone of our modern digital societies – their advanced capabilities may mean that some still think of them as nascent technologies. Today’s hubs for servers, cloud storage and connection networks are truly impressive, handling trillions of gigabytes of data a second.
However, early forms of data centres have been around since the 1940s. The US military’s Electrical Numerical Integrator and Computer – the first general-purpose digital computer – weighed 30 tonnes, took up more than 165 square metres of space and required a small power plant for electricity. What is different now is that instead of a single supercomputer for one concern, such as the army, data centres are critical infrastructure as important as the national power grid or air traffic control.
Underlining the indispensability of modern data centres is what happens when they stop functioning. Last week, a fire broke out at an Oregon data centre leased by the social media giant X. The platform later suffered global performance issues that lasted several days, leading Elon Musk, the site’s owner, to post that “major operational improvements need to be made”.
At the launch of Stargate UAE were President Sheikh Mohamed; Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi; Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence; Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, Deputy Ruler of Abu Dhabi and National Security Adviser; Khaldoon Al Mubarak, chairman of the UAE’s Executive Affairs Authority; Peng Xiao, G42 chief executive; Jensen Huang, chief executive of Nvidia; Sam Altman, chief executive of OpenAI; SoftBank Group founder Masayoshi Son; Jeetu Patel, Cisco's president and chief product officer; Mike Sicilia, Oracle executive vice president; and Marty Edelman, group general counsel of G42. Photo: G42
It is in this context that one of the world's largest computing infrastructure projects is taking shape in the UAE. Abu Dhabi AI company G42 has teamed up with technology giants OpenAI, Oracle and Nvidia, alongside Japan's SoftBank Group, to create Stargate UAE. This will form part of a system of OpenAI-linked data centres around the world that are critical to today's economic, societal and business needs.
Investments into 1GW Stargate UAE – built in co-operation with Cisco and SoftBank Group and part of a planned 5GW campus – will reportedly be about $20 billion, according to OpenAI. This is part of UAE-US AI campus that will include 5GW of capacity for AI data centres in Abu Dhabi, announced during US President Donald Trump's visit to the Emirates. The new AI campus, the largest outside of the US, will be home to US hyperscalers and large enterprises that will use the capacity for regional computing with the ability to serve many countries.
That market-leading tech companies are committing to such a monumental project in partnership with the UAE highlights not only its capacity to host large-scale tech but its reputation as a place that has embraced data as the currency of the future. The country offers a secure environment for IT infrastructure, can supply the immense amounts of energy needed to run data centres, and has embraced AI and advanced tech at the highest levels of government.
The project is the result of years of building relationships. The Stargate announcement is just the latest in a series of high-profile agreements between the UAE and tech giants, as well as the US government with the White House announcing in March that the Emirates had committed to a $1.4 trillion investment framework related to artificial intelligence infrastructure, semiconductors, energy and manufacturing.
The project is the result of years of building relationships
Further developments are in the works. The UAE has at least 17 data centres, according to data compiled by industry tracker DataCentres.com, and has plans to boost this figure. Last month, telecom provider du and Microsoft announced that a hyperscaler data centre worth Dh2 billion ($545 million) is to be built in Dubai. This is aside from enormous investments poured into the UAE's data centre market by Oracle, Google and other big-name players.
Although the days of 30-tonne computers are firmly in the past, hosting the digital infrastructure of the 21st century offers plenty of challenges and opportunities. For an idea of how both will be met, looking at the UAE’s role as a major data centre hub is a good place to start.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
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Born: Kuwait in 1986
Family: She is the youngest of seven siblings
Time in the UAE: 10 years
Hobbies: audiobooks and fitness: she works out every day, enjoying kickboxing and basketball
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023 More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut
Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”
The biog
Favourite films: Casablanca and Lawrence of Arabia
Favourite books: Start with Why by Simon Sinek and Good to be Great by Jim Collins
Favourite dish: Grilled fish
Inspiration: Sheikh Zayed's visionary leadership taught me to embrace new challenges.
The Hindu festival is at once a celebration of the autumn harvest and the triumph of good over evil, as outlined in the Ramayana.
According to the Sanskrit epic, penned by the sage Valmiki, Diwali marks the time that the exiled king Rama – a mortal with superhuman powers – returned home to the city of Ayodhya with his wife Sita and brother Lakshman, after vanquishing the 10-headed demon Ravana and conquering his kingdom of Lanka. The people of Ayodhya are believed to have lit thousands of earthen lamps to illuminate the city and to guide the royal family home.
In its current iteration, Diwali is celebrated with a puja to welcome the goodness of prosperity Lakshmi (an incarnation of Sita) into the home, which is decorated with diyas (oil lamps) or fairy lights and rangoli designs with coloured powder. Fireworks light up the sky in some parts of the word, and sweetmeats are made (or bought) by most households. It is customary to get new clothes stitched, and visit friends and family to exchange gifts and greetings.
Centre Court - from 4pm (UAE time)
Angelique Kerber (1) v Irina Falconi
Martin Klizan v Novak Djokovic (2)
Alexandr Dolgopolov v Roger Federer (3)
Court One - from 4pm
Milos Raonic (6) v Jan-Lennard Struff
Karolina Pliskova (3) v Evgeniya Rodina
Dominic Thiem (8) v Vasek Pospisil
Court Two - from 2.30pm
Juan Martin Del Potro (29) v Thanasi Kokkinakis
Agnieszka Radwanska (9) v Jelena Jankovic
Jeremy Chardy v Tomas Berdych (11)
Ons Jabeur v Svetlana Kuznetsova (7)
