The UAE’s Stargate: A 1-Gigawatt AI Megaproject Reshaping Global Tech

How Abu Dhabi’s 10-Square-Mile AI Campus Could Redefine Innovation

A coalition of tech giants—G42, OpenAI, Oracle, NVIDIA, SoftBank Group, and Cisco—just unveiled plans for Stargate UAE, a 1-gigawatt AI cluster that will anchor the sprawling UAE–U.S. AI Campus in Abu Dhabi. Slated to be the largest AI infrastructure deployment outside the U.S., this $2 billion-plus project signals the Gulf nation’s aggressive pivot from oil to silicon. The facility’s first phase, a 200-megawatt cluster powered by NVIDIA’s Grace Blackwell GB300 superchips, is expected to go live in 2026.

“This isn’t just about compute—it’s about building the backbone for sovereign AI ecosystems,” said G42’s CEO Peng Xiao during the announcement, flanked by executives from Oracle and Cisco.

The 10-square-mile campus, fueled by a hybrid of nuclear, solar, and natural gas energy, aims to cut emissions while delivering 5 gigawatts of total capacity. Its scale dwarfs existing AI data hubs: For context, Meta’s latest data centers consume roughly 0.05 gigawatts. The project springs from the U.S.-UAE AI Acceleration Partnership, a diplomatic push endorsed by UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and former U.S. President Donald J. Trump to position the region as a neutral AI hub amid rising U.S.-China tensions.

Beyond Hyperscale: The Science Park and Sovereign AI

Stargate UAE isn’t just stacking servers. The blueprint includes a science park for training local engineers and a “sustainable compute” lab to optimize energy use. Oracle will deploy its AI cloud platform, while Cisco wraps the infrastructure with zero-trust security—a nod to concerns about IP protection in joint ventures. Applications will span predictive healthcare models, autonomous logistics, and even AI-driven oilfield optimization, leveraging Abu Dhabi’s energy expertise.

“Grace Blackwell systems here will train models we can’t yet imagine,” said an NVIDIA spokesperson, hinting at undisclosed partnerships with OpenAI.

The timing is strategic. With U.S. export controls limiting chip sales to the Middle East, the project’s reliance on American tech (NVIDIA) and Emirati capital (G42) creates a rare symbiotic lane for AI development. But challenges loom: Can the UAE’s 90°F summers coexist with energy-hungry cooling systems? Will the 2026 timeline hold amid supply chain snarls? One thing’s clear—Abu Dhabi is betting big that AI, not oil, will fuel its next century.