NVIDIA and OpenAI Team Up with UAE to Launch Cutting-Edge AI Data Center—Because What’s Another Billion-Dollar Bet in Tech?
Silicon Valley heavyweights and oil-rich Gulf states join forces—because nothing says ’future-proof investment’ like burning cash on server farms while crypto miners eye the scraps.
The UAE’s latest power move: Buying the hype at wholesale prices with two of AI’s biggest names. NVIDIA’s chips meet OpenAI’s algorithms in a desert data oasis—just don’t ask about the energy bill.
Meanwhile on Wall Street: Hedge funds quietly short the cooling systems.
NVIDIA and OpenAI partner with UAE to help build one of the world’s biggest AI data centers. pic.twitter.com/UydebEMEgX
— Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) May 16, 2025
US President Donald Trump announced the US’s new AI infrastructure project earlier this week in a move to continue AI development in the country. While touring several big Middle Eastern nations, Trump has been working to bring new funding to the US, while projects like new AI data centers are a big outcome of these new investments. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, and Cisco President Jeetu Patel were all in the UAE with Trump as well.
What Will OpenAI and Nvidia Bring to the Table?
According to a CNBC report, Nvidia will supply hardware with the latest Blackwell GB300 systems. OpenAI, meanwhile, is expected to be one of the primary anchor tenants for the recently announced 5-gigawatt data center campus in Abu Dhabi. The latter’s involvement in the new AI data center has yet to be confirmed, but is expected to be announced by OpenAI soon.
The planned campus is part of OpenAI’s Stargate initiative to support AI development, two people said. OpenAI, SoftBank Group Corp., and Oracle Corp. announced Stargate alongside TRUMP in January, and said the joint venture would invest up to $500 billion in US projects over the next four years. Additionally, OpenAI said earlier this month that it was looking to partner with international governments to develop more AI data centers beyond the US and promote American leadership in the field.
The UAE data center campus is the focal point of a broader bilateral framework to facilitate more AI collaboration between the US and the UAE, with the help of Nvidia and OpenAI. It’s part of Trump’s broader strategy to accelerate the use of American technology in AI development throughout the world, which he has discussed with nations throughout his Middle Eastern tour this week. The goal is for the US to beat China to these profitable markets for AI development.
