OpenAI plans Stargate data centre in UAE in push beyond US: Report

Sam Altman's OpenAI is going to announce a new data centre in the UAE under its Stargate initiative, The Information reported, citing people aware of the matter.

Altman is part of a Big Tech contingent accompanying US President Donald Trump on his ongoing Middle East tour. Trump recently rescinded Biden-era curbs on selling high-end semiconductor chips to the region over fears that Chinese firms might gain access to them.

The data centre is part of OpenAI's efforts to expand business outside the US, while countries in the Middle East have been wooing American technology firms with cheaper energy available in the region.


It is not clear whether the ChatGPT maker will use the UAE data centre for its own work in the artificial intelligence (AI) space.

Stargate is a $500-billion AI infrastructure project by OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank. The initiative was initially focussed on building data centres in the US to train advanced AI models. But OpenAI said last week that it will expand its investments beyond the US. The initial phase will see the company pursue 10 international projects, but it has not disclosed their locations yet.

The first leg of Trump's Middle East tour has been punctuated with Musk's Starlink and Nvidia signing deals. Saudi Arabia will authorise use of Starlink satellite internet for aviation and maritime shipping. The richest person in the world pitched other services from his portfolio, including robotaxis, humanoid robots and The Boring Company tunnel.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration is weighing a deal to import more than a million advanced Nvidia chips to the UAE, Bloomberg reported. The deal, which is still in a nascent stage, could let UAE import 500,000 chips till 2027. One-fifth would be set aside for Abu Dhabi AI firm G42, while the rest would go to US companies setting up data centres in the nation.