The UAE has significantly increased its investment in the flagship Stargate AI data centre, with the project’s total cost now projected to exceed $30 billion. The announcement, made by the country’s Minister of AI, Omar Al Olama, underscores the nation’s immense ambitions to become a central hub in the global AI landscape. The project is being developed by Khazna Data Centres, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi’s AI powerhouse, G42.
Speaking at the Machines Can Think summit in Abu Dhabi, Al Olama highlighted the monumental scale of the initiative, describing it as “the most famous piece of evidence” of the UAE’s capacity to execute projects “that no one has the audacity to dream of.” The new cost estimate marks a 50% increase from the initial $20 billion projection made in spring 2025.
A Campus of Unprecedented Scale
The Stargate UAE campus is a colossal undertaking, designed to provide the immense computing power necessary for training and deploying the next generation of advanced AI models. The 5-gigawatt development will cover 19.2 square kilometres in Abu Dhabi, an area more than nine times the size of Monaco. The project’s first phase is on track for completion by the third quarter of this year.
The Strategic Vision for Sovereign AI
Minister Al Olama emphasized the project’s strategic importance beyond just commercial returns, positioning it as a move towards greater data sovereignty for the region and beyond. He noted the success of Emirati-developed Large Language Models (LLMs) like Jais and K2 Think as proof of the nation’s growing expertise.
“We want to ensure that countries have an option that does not look for profit and does not look for specific commercial gains, but focuses on giving all these countries sovereign options,” Al Olama stated. This vision aims to allow other nations to leverage the UAE’s technological advancements for their own economic and strategic benefit.
Global Collaboration on a Landmark Project
The sheer scale and ambition of Stargate have attracted a consortium of global technology leaders. Khazna Data Centres is developing the project with substantial support from industry giants including OpenAI, Oracle, Nvidia, Cisco, and SoftBank. Highlighting its international scope, South Korea has also officially joined the project, reinforcing the UAE’s role as a key convener in the global tech ecosystem.
About Stargate
Project Stargate is a 5-gigawatt AI data centre campus under development in Abu Dhabi by Khazna Data Centres, a unit of G42. It is designed to be one of the world’s largest AI computing facilities, providing the critical infrastructure required to train and deploy advanced generative AI. The initiative is a cornerstone of the UAE’s strategy to position itself at the forefront of the global AI revolution.
Source: AGBI
