In the heart of the Abu Dhabi desert, a sprawling AI campus, covering a quarter of Paris's area, is beginning to take shape, marking the oil-rich UAE's most ambitious wager on technology to reshape its economy.

Soaring cranes clatter as sprawling; low-rise structures emerge beneath, destined to become data centers fueled by five gigawatts of power -- the largest facility of its kind outside the United States.

The campus will offer storage and computational resources across a 3,200-kilometre (1990-mile) area, reaching nearly four billion individuals, stated Johan Nilerud, chief strategy officer of Khazna Data Centers, a part of the Emirati AI leader G42, which is leading the initiative.

From the 1960s onward, oil has driven the United Arab Emirates' transformation from a desert settlement of nomadic groups to a significant economic and diplomatic force in the Middle East.

Currently, the UAE is optimistic that AI can assist in bridging the gap when oil demand eventually declines.

"Nilerud stated that the UAE is exceeding expectations since it is a tiny nation eager to take the lead."

Also Read: A Brief History of India's Transformation Under PM Narendra Modi

"The goal is clearly to attract global partners to become this AI-centric nation," he stated.

The first phase of the AI campus -- the one-gigawatt Stargate UAE cluster constructed by G42 -- will be managed by OpenAI and supported by additional US tech leaders including Oracle, Cisco, and Nvidia.

Also Read: 5 Latest CHRO Appointments in Global Corporations

Since 2017, the UAE has invested significantly in AI, appointing the world's first AI minister and becoming the second nation after Canada to launch a national AI strategy.

One year later, G42 was established with support from the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala. Led by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the brother of the UAE president, it provides various AI solutions and has a workforce exceeding 23,000.

 

Also Read: How This Techie Turned Visa Struggles into Startup Success

The UAE announced that it has invested over $147 billion in AI since 2024, which includes as much as 50 billion euros ($58 billion) for a one-gigawatt AI data center in France.

"AI, similar to oil, is a cross-cutting sector that could potentially create a leverage effect and influence various activities," stated Professor Jean-Francois Gagne from the University of Montreal.