OpenAI has announced the launch of Stargate UAE, a major expansion of its AI infrastructure initiative, marking the company’s first Middle East deployment. The new data center cluster in Abu Dhabi will eventually scale to 1GW, with 200MW expected to go live by 2026. The project is being developed in collaboration with key partners including G42, Oracle, NVIDIA, Cisco, and SoftBank.
OpenAI stated that the facility will support AI compute within a 2,000-mile radius and is the first deployment under its OpenAI for Countries initiative, aimed at enabling sovereign AI capacity. The UAE will become the first nation to roll out ChatGPT access nationwide under this framework.