UAE, US Presidents attend unveiling of Phase 1 of new 5GW AI campus in Abu Dhabi
A new 5GW UAE-US AI Campus in Abu Dhabi was unveiled today at Qasr Al Watan in the presence of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and President Donald Trump of the United States of America, who is on a state visit to the UAE.
The new AI campus, the largest outside the US, will be home to US hyperscalers and large enterprises that can leverage the capacity for regional 'compute resources' with the ability to serve the Global South.
The UAE-US AI campus will include 5GW of capacity for AI data centres in Abu Dhabi, providing a regional platform from which US hyperscalers will be able to offer latency-friendly services to nearly half of the global population.
Once completed, the facility will leverage nuclear, solar, and gas power to minimise carbon emissions and will also house a science park driving advancements in AI innovation.
The campus will be built by G42 and operated in partnership with several US companies. The endeavour builds on a new framework by the two countries' governments – the US-UAE AI Acceleration Partnership – to deepen cooperation and collaboration on AI and advanced technologies.
The UAE and US will work together to regulate access to the compute resources, which are reserved for US hyperscalers and approved cloud service providers.
H.H. Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Ruler of Abu Dhabi, and Chairman of the Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Technology Council (AIATC), said, 'Today's unveiling of this campus is a testament to the ongoing collaboration between our countries in artificial intelligence. It is an expression of the UAE's commitment to pioneering innovation and fostering global collaboration in artificial intelligence, strengthening the UAE's position as a hub for cutting-edge research and sustainable development, delivering transformative benefits for humanity.'
US Secretary of Commerce Howard W Lutnick said, 'The announcement of the campus launches a historic Middle Eastern partnership on AI between our two nations. It promotes major investment in advanced semiconductors and data centres across the US and the UAE. In the UAE, American companies will operate the data centres and offer American-managed cloud services throughout the region. By extending the world's leading American tech stack to an important strategic partner in the region, this agreement is a major milestone in achieving President Trump's vision for US AI dominance.'
The UAE has been a pioneer in encouraging AI adoption in commercial and governmental activities. In 2017 it became the first country to appoint a federal Minister of Artificial Intelligence, and in 2019 established the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence.
The country was also one of the first to launch a national AI strategy in 2017 – the UAE Strategy for Artificial Intelligence – and is on track to become a global AI hub. This ambitious roadmap prioritises transformative AI integration across critical sectors, including education, healthcare, transportation, and energy, cementing the UAE's role as a pioneer in the global AI landscape.
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