As rumored, OpenAI is expanding its ambitious Stargate data center project to the Middle East.
On Thursday, the company announced Stargate UAE, which will bring a 1GW data center cluster to Abu Dhabi. OpenAI expects 200MW will go live in 2026, developed with partners including G42, Oracle, Nvidia, Cisco, and SoftBank.
In a blog post, OpenAI claims that Stargate UAE has the potential to provide AI infrastructure and compute capacity within a 2,000-mile radius.
“This is […] the first partnership under OpenAI for Countries, our new global initiative to help interested governments build sovereign AI capability in coordination with the U.S. government,” writes OpenAI. “Under the partnership, the UAE will become the first country in the world to enable ChatGPT nationwide — giving people across the country the ability to access OpenAI’s technology.”
The unveiling of Stargate UAE comes the same week as billionaire Elon Musk said his AI company, xAI, would build the world’s first “gigawatt” AI training cluster.
