UAE and US Partner on $500B AI Super Hub Project
The global AI infrastructure landscape is undergoing a seismic shift with the launch of Project Stargate, a $500 billion initiative jointly developed by OpenAI, Oracle, SoftBank, and Abu Dhabi's MGX Fund. This ambitious project spans two continents, featuring cutting-edge data centers in Texas and the UAE that promise to redefine artificial intelligence capabilities.
Texas Facility: Powering America's AI Future The flagship installation in Abilene, Texas spans 875 acres with eight buildings designed to deliver 1.2 gigawatts of computing power. Construction began in June 2024 with phased completion:
- First phase activation scheduled for early 2025
- Initial deployment of 16,000 Nvidia GB200 GPUs by summer 2025
- Full completion by mid-2026 supporting up to 400,000 Blackwell-class accelerators
JPMorgan Chase has committed $9.6 billion in financing for the Texas site, while Oracle secured a $40 billion contract for Nvidia's latest superchips. This facility marks OpenAI's strategic move to diversify beyond Microsoft's cloud infrastructure.
Abu Dhabi: Building the World's Largest AI Hub The UAE counterpart broke ground on May 22, 2025 as part of the U.S.-UAE AI Acceleration Partnership. The Abu Dhabi campus will eventually span 10 square miles with:
- Phase one (200MW) launching in 2026
- Ultimate capacity reaching 5 gigawatts
- Potential deployment exceeding 2 million Nvidia Grace-Blackwell systems
Local tech firm G42 leads operations with support from Cisco's security networks and Oracle's cluster management. The project represents the first implementation of OpenAI's "for Countries" initiative aimed at global infrastructure development.
Strategic Implications These facilities address critical challenges in AI development:
- Reducing reliance on single cloud providers
- Meeting exponential growth in computing demand
- Creating geographically distributed infrastructure The Abu Dhabi site plans hybrid energy solutions combining nuclear, solar and natural gas - addressing sustainability concerns that accompany such massive power requirements.
Global Expansion Plans Project Stargate's roadmap includes potential expansions across three continents:
- 16 additional U.S. locations under consideration
- Asia-Pacific sites in Japan, South Korea and Australia
- European candidates including the UK and Germany This network could fundamentally alter how nations access advanced AI capabilities.
The scale of investment - with SoftBank contributing $18 billion and MGX adding $7 billion - demonstrates unprecedented confidence in AI's transformative potential. As these facilities come online, they'll enable breakthroughs from pharmaceutical research to climate modeling that were previously impossible.
Key Points
- Project Stargate represents a $500B investment across US and UAE facilities
- Texas site will deliver 1.2GW capacity by mid-2026
- Abu Dhabi hub aims for record-breaking 5GW output
- Initiative reduces OpenAI's dependence on Microsoft infrastructure
- Global expansion plans include Asia-Pacific and European sites