Initiative is part of $200bn-worth of deals announced during President Trump’s UAE visit
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The UAE and US governments have agreed to partner in building a new 5GW artificial intelligence (AI) campus.
The agreement is part of over $200bn-worth of deals announced during the state visit of US President Donald Trump to the UAE, the final stop of his four-day Gulf visit, which began in Riyadh on 13 May.
The project’s first phase entails a 1GW data centre, but the planned 5GW campus will be the largest outside the US once completed, the US State Department said.
“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 living within 3,200 kilometres of the UAE,” the department said.
“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 in Abu Dhabi will span 10 square miles, roughly 26 square kilometres. It will be built by UAE-based AI firm G42 and operated in partnership with several US companies.
The endeavour builds on a new framework by the US and UAE governments, known as the US-UAE AI Acceleration Partnership, to deepen cooperation and collaboration on AI and advanced technologies.
Within 30 days of the agreement, the UAE and the US will establish a working group to implement, monitor and assess progress, the US State Department added.
The White House or State Department statements did not indicate which chips from US tech firm Nvidia or other US-based manufacturers will be deployed for the planned 5GW campus.
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However, previous reports by Reuters and other media outlets indicated a pending deal that will allow the UAE to import as many as 500,000 Nvidia advanced graphics processing units (GPUs) annually starting this year.
The deal addresses fears that US export controls on advanced US-made GPUs could stifle the UAE’s ambitious AI strategy.
The White House said that the AI agreement “includes the UAE committing to invest in, build, or finance US data centres that are at least as large and as powerful as those in the UAE”.
“The agreement also contains historic commitments by the UAE to further align their national security regulations with the United States, including strong protections to prevent the diversion of US-origin technology.”
The other deals that were announced as part of the overall $200bn agreements include a $14.5bn commitment from Abu Dhabi-based state carrier Etihad Airways to invest in 28 Boeing 787 and 777x aircraft powered by GE Aerospace.
The estimated $200bn new US-UAE trade deals accelerate the UAE’s previous commitment to invest up to $1.4tn in the US over 10 years.
Abu Dhabi-headquartered Emirates Global Aluminium plans to invest in developing a $4bn primary aluminum smelter project in Oklahoma, while US energy firms ExxonMobil Corp, Occidental Petroleum and EOG Resources are partnering with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company in expanded oil and natural gas production valued at $60bn.
