OpenAI is poised to help develop a staggering 5-gigawatt data center campus in Abu Dhabi, positioning the company as a primary anchor tenant in what could become one of the world’s largest AI infrastructure projects, according to a new Bloomberg report.
The facility would reportedly span an astonishing 10 square miles and consume power equivalent to five nuclear reactors, dwarfing any existing AI infrastructure announced by OpenAI or its competitors. (OpenAI has not yet returned TechCrunch’s request for comment, but to put that into perspective, that’s bigger than Monaco.)
The UAE project, developed in partnership with G42 – an Abu Dhabi-based tech conglomerate – is part of OpenAI’s ambitious Stargate project, a joint venture announced in January that could see OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle build massive data centers around the globe stocked with powerful computer chips to support AI development.
While OpenAI’s first Stargate campus in the U.S. – already under development in Abilene, Texas – is expected to reach 1.2 gigawatts, this Middle Eastern counterpart would more than quadruple that capacity.
The project is emerging amid broader AI ties between the U.S. and UAE that have been years in the making, and have made some lawmakers nervous.
OpenAI’s relationship with the UAE dates back to a 2023 partnership with G42 aimed at driving AI adoption in the Middle East. During a talk earlier that same year in Abu Dhabi, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman praised the UAE, saying it “has been talking about AI since before it was cool.”
As with much of the AI world, these relationships are… complicated. Founded in 2018, G42 is chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s national security advisor and younger brother of the country’s ruler. Its embrace by OpenAI raised concerns in late 2023 among U.S. officials, who feared that G42 could enable China’s government to gain access to advanced U.S. technology.
These concerns focused on G42’s “active relationships” with blacklisted entities, including Huawei and Beijing Genomics Institute, as well as ties to individuals connected to China’s intelligence efforts.
Following pressure from U.S. lawmakers, G42’s CEO told Bloomberg in early 2024 that the company was shifting its strategy, saying: “All of our China investments that were previously made are already divested. Because of that, of course, we have no need anymore for any physical China presence.”
Soon after, Microsoft – a major shareholder in OpenAI with its own broader interests in the region – announced a $1.5 billion investment in G42, and its president, Brad Smith, joined G42’s board of directors.