US and UAE Finalize Strategic AI Infrastructure Deal

The United Arab Emirates and the United States have formally unveiled plans for the world’s largest artificial intelligence campus outside the United States. Located in Abu Dhabi, the UAE-US AI Campus spans 10 square miles and offers 5 gigawatts of data center capacity. The project is led by UAE-based tech firm G42 in collaboration with multiple U.S. companies, under the bilateral “US-UAE AI Acceleration Partnership.” U.S. firms will manage the operations, providing cloud services across the region. The facility will utilize nuclear, solar, and gas energy sources to reduce emissions, while also incorporating a science park focused on advancing AI technologies.

As part of the agreement, the UAE has committed to aligning its national security regulations with U.S. standards. This includes robust Know-Your-Customer protocols and access controls for the AI infrastructure. The U.S. Commerce Department has confirmed that the compute resources will be reserved for U.S. hyperscalers and approved cloud service providers, ensuring controlled deployment of advanced technologies. These arrangements address previous concerns over third-party diversion of sensitive technologies and reflect a broader shift in U.S. policy towards strategic partnerships.

The AI campus is expected to support low-latency services for nearly half the global population located within 3,200 kilometers of the UAE. It will facilitate regional growth in cloud computing and AI research while strengthening the U.S. presence in global technology infrastructure. The agreement also includes reciprocal commitments from the UAE to invest in data centers of equivalent capacity within the United States. With its AI governance strategy already in place since 2017, the UAE continues to position itself as a global hub for artificial intelligence development, attracting U.S. firms including Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, and potentially Nvidia and OpenAI.

More information on the future of modular design in data centers can be found here.