UAE-US AI Campus

Sovereign AI campus · Abu Dhabi, UAE · Built by G42 and Khazna; US companies to operate

The UAE is building a 5 GW AI campus with Gulf money and American chips, on conditions set by US export licenses. Two 100 MW buildings were enclosed by August 2026, but no capacity is confirmed live, and Iranian attacks on Gulf data centers have the UAE weighing hardened sites instead of one campus.

The UAE-US AI Campus drawn to scale by megawatts: the 5 GW plan, the 1 GW Stargate UAE cluster inside it, the first 200 MW phase, two 100 MW buildings enclosed, and no capacity confirmed live UAE-US AI CAMPUS, AREA TO SCALE BY MW 5 GW CAMPUS PLAN10 sq mi; nuclear, gas and solar named 1 GW STARGATE UAEOpenAI, Oracle, Nvidia, Cisco FIRST 200 MW PHASEQ3 2026 target passed 2 x 100 MW ENCLOSEDInteriors in progress, Aug 2026 0 MW CONFIRMED LIVEAs of October 2026 WHAT COULD CHANGE IT Reuters, Sep 2026: one campus may become hardened sites across the UAE G42 chip-export approval expires April 6, 2027 unless renewed
Campus plan
5 GW
Stargate UAE
1 GW, about $30B
First phase
200 MW
Confirmed live
0 MW
G42 chip approval
35,000 GB300-equivalent
Hub
Deployments

The campus

A 5 GW Plan With Its First Buildings Enclosed

  • Announced: May 2025, during President Trump's Gulf trip: 10 square miles, growing to 5 GW, with a first phase of 1 GW.
  • Builder: G42 through Khazna Data Centers, in which MGX and Silver Lake hold minority stakes. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said American companies will operate the data centers; the US called it a regional platform for US hyperscalers.
  • Power: nuclear, solar and gas were named at the announcement. No power contract, grid connection or split by source has been published. The Barakah nuclear plant supplies about a quarter of UAE electricity; no share for the campus has been announced.
  • Progress: in August 2026 Khazna reported two 100 MW buildings enclosed, roof equipment installed and interiors under way, and said it remains on track to hand capacity to customers in 2026.

Stargate UAE

The 1 GW Stargate Cluster Missed Its Q3 Target Without a Declared Delay

  • Partners: G42, OpenAI, Oracle, Nvidia, Cisco and SoftBank (May 2025). Khazna builds; OpenAI and Oracle operate; Nvidia supplies GB300-class systems; Cisco provides networking and security.
  • Cost: about $30B for the 1 GW cluster, reported.
  • First 200 MW: targeted for 2026, then for Q3 2026 by Mubadala chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak. No commissioning has been announced.

See Stargate for OpenAI's US sites and other overseas projects.

Export licenses

US Licenses Set the Terms for Every Chip

  • Microsoft: licensed in September 2025 to ship GB300s equal to 60,400 A100s, on top of 21,500 A100-equivalents already in the UAE, under cybersecurity, physical-security and export-control conditions. Microsoft owns a $1.5B stake in G42 (April 2024) and is spending $15.2B in the UAE from 2023 to 2029.
  • G42 and Humain: in November 2025, Commerce allowed each to buy up to the equivalent of 35,000 GB300s, with security and reporting requirements.
  • July 2026 easing: the UAE moved to a more favorable export-control group. Advanced chips still need a license unless the buyer is on an approved list that includes G42, Core42 and listed US firms' UAE subsidiaries. G42's approval expires April 6, 2027 unless renewed.
  • Investment pledge: the UAE pledged $1.4 trillion of US investment in March 2025.

Hardened sites

Iranian Attacks Pushed the UAE Toward Hardened Sites

Iranian strikes damaged two AWS data centers in the UAE and one in Bahrain in March 2026. In April, an Iranian military video threatening regional infrastructure showed imagery of the Stargate site, which sources place near Al Dhafra Air Base.

Reuters reported in September 2026, citing six sources, that the single campus will likely become a network of hardened sites across the UAE: air defenses, underground halls, the most sensitive data inside mountains, blast-resistant concrete, and backup power and cooling. G42 says work is progressing as planned. See Security.

The Gulf

Gulf AI Campuses Are Mostly Announced, Not Running

Gulf AI campuses
CampusPlanned MWLive MWStatus
UAE-US AI Campus, Abu DhabiG42, Khazna; US hyperscalers to operate5,000 planned0 confirmedTwo 100 MW buildings enclosed; first handover promised in 2026
Khazna, all UAE sitesG42's data center armAbout 370 under constructionAbout 300Forecasts about 700 MW live and contracted within 12 to 14 months (August 2026)
Humain, Riyadh and DammamSaudi Public Investment FundAbout 200 (100 each)Not confirmedDue online Q2 2026; first 18,000 GB300 shipment arrived December 2025
Humain and Nvidia, Oxagon (NEOM)DataVolt builds and runsUp to 84014 MW of B300 in Q4 2026, 70 MW of Vera Rubin from June 2027
AMD, Cisco and Humain ventureJoint venture; Luma AI tenant1,000 over five years; 100 firstPartly liveMI355X reported serving customers; site not disclosed
SpaceXSI and HumainHumain; SpaceXSI runs Grok5000Announced November 2025
Qai and Brookfield, QatarJoint ventureNot disclosed0$20B venture announced December 2025

Humain's targets are nearly 3 GW by 2030 and more than 6 GW by 2034. Saudi Arabia's total data center capacity, across all operators, was 467 MW in early 2026.

Heat and water

Designed for More Than 45°C

Khazna designs for ambient temperatures above 45°C. Its 2025 report shows about 305,000 cubic meters of cooling water, roughly 80% potable; its Dubai site cools with treated sewage water, 19 sites use outside-air cooling assisted by water, and its 100 MW Ajman AI site uses direct-to-chip liquid cooling. The first 200 MW at the Abu Dhabi campus was assessed for heat, flood and water-stress risk. See Cooling Water Systems.

Record

Dataset Record

Dataset
Gulf AI campuses; the UAE campus row also in world_ai_campuses.csv
Sources
G42, Khazna, OpenAI, Microsoft, US Commerce Department, Reuters, Khaleej Times, The National, Gulf News, DatacenterDynamics, Latham & Watkins, Data Centre Magazine
Last verified
October 2026