OpenAI will help build a 5-gigawatt campus of data centers in Abu Dhabi. This will position the company as the primary anchor tenant for what could be one of the largest AI infrastructure projects in the world. Bloomberg report
According to reports, the facility would span an astounding 10 square miles and use power equivalent to five nucleonic reactors. This facility dwarfs any AI infrastructure announced by OpenAI and its competitors. OpenAI has yet to respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment. To put it in perspective, this is bigger than Monaco.
OpenAI’s ambitious Stargate Project, announced in January, could see OpenAI build massive data centers around world stocked with powerful computers chips to support AI research. OpenAI’s first Stargate Campus in the U.S., which is already under construction in Abilene in Texas, will have a capacity of 1.2 gigawatts. However, its Middle Eastern counterpart will more than quadruple this. The project is part of broader AI ties that have been in development for years between the U.S., UAE and other countries. This has made some lawmakers nervous. OpenAI’s relationship to the UAE dates back a 2023 partnership aimed at driving AI in the Middle East. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said that the UAE “has been talking AI” during a talk he gave earlier in the year, in Abu Dhabi. Since before it was cool,“
These relationships are… complex. G42 was founded in 2018 and is chaired Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan. He is the UAE’s National Security Advisor and younger brother to the country’s ruler. OpenAI’s embrace of G42 in late 2023 raised concerns among U.S. officials who feared G42 could allow China’s government access to the technology. Gain access to advanced U.S. technologies
These worries focused on G42’s Active relationships” with blacklisted entities including Huawei and Beijing Genomics Institute as well as ties with individuals connected to China’s intelligence efforts.
After pressure from U.S. legislators, G42 CEO Bloomberg reported in early 2024, that the company had changed its strategy. “All of our China investment that we previously made have already been divested.” We have no need for a physical presence in China because of this.
Microsoft, a major shareholder of OpenAI and with its own interests in the region, announced a $1.5billion investment in G42. Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president, joined G42’s board.
Loizos began reporting on Silicon Valley in the late 1990s when she joined Red Herring. She was previously the Silicon Valley Editor at TechCrunch. In September 2023, she became Editor in Chief and General manager of TechCrunch. She is also the founder of StrictlyVC – a daily eNewsletter and Lecture Series acquired by Yahoo in 2023. It now operates as a subbrand of TechCrunch.
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