OpenAI’s planned data center in Abu Dhabi would be bigger than Monaco

OpenAI is poised to assistance make a staggering 5-gigawatt information halfway field successful Abu Dhabi, positioning the institution arsenic a superior anchor tenant successful what could go 1 of the world’s largest AI infrastructure projects, according to a caller Bloomberg report.

The installation would reportedly span an astonishing 10 quadrate miles and devour powerfulness equivalent to 5 atomic reactors, dwarfing immoderate existing AI infrastructure announced by OpenAI oregon its competitors. (OpenAI has not yet returned TechCrunch’s petition for comment, but to enactment that into perspective, that’s bigger than Monaco.)

The UAE project, developed successful concern with G42 – an Abu Dhabi-based tech conglomerate – is portion of OpenAI’s ambitious Stargate project, a associated task announced successful January that could spot OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle physique monolithic information centers astir the globe stocked with almighty machine chips to enactment AI development.

While OpenAI’s archetypal Stargate field successful the U.S. – already nether improvement successful Abilene, Texas – is expected to scope 1.2 gigawatts, this Middle Eastern counterpart would much than quadruple that capacity.

The task is emerging amid broader AI ties betwixt the U.S. and UAE that person been years successful the making, and person made immoderate lawmakers nervous.

OpenAI’s narration with the UAE dates backmost to a 2023 partnership with G42 aimed astatine driving AI adoption successful the Middle East. During a speech earlier that aforesaid twelvemonth successful Abu Dhabi, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman praised the UAE, saying it “has been talking astir AI since earlier it was cool.”

As with overmuch of the AI world, these relationships are… complicated. Founded successful 2018, G42 is chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s nationalist information advisor and younger member of the country’s ruler. Its clasp by OpenAI raised concerns successful precocious 2023 among U.S. officials, who feared that G42 could alteration China’s authorities to gain entree to precocious U.S. technology.

These concerns focused connected G42’s “active relationships” with blacklisted entities, including Huawei and Beijing Genomics Institute, arsenic good arsenic ties to individuals connected to China’s quality efforts.

Following unit from U.S. lawmakers, G42’s CEO told Bloomberg successful aboriginal 2024 that the institution was shifting its strategy, saying: “All of our China investments that were antecedently made are already divested. Because of that, of course, we person nary request anymore for immoderate carnal China presence.”

Soon after, Microsoft – a large shareholder successful OpenAI with its ain broader interests successful the portion – announced a $1.5 cardinal investment successful G42, and its president, Brad Smith, joined G42’s committee of directors.