New UAE AI Data Center Announced by OpenAI, Cisco, and Oracle

OpenAI is taking a major step toward global expansion—and this time, it’s setting its sights on the Middle East. On Thursday, the company officially announced Stargate UAE, a large-scale data center project that will bring an enormous 1-gigawatt AI infrastructure hub to Abu Dhabi. It’s part of OpenAI’s broader Stargate initiative, and as expected, the move involves big-name partners like Cisco, Oracle, Nvidia, SoftBank, and G42, a leading AI company based in the UAE.

The plan is to get things moving fast: the first 200 megawatts of computing power are expected to be up and running by 2026.

In a blog post, OpenAI shared that Stargate UAE is designed to deliver serious compute power—enough to serve AI demands within a 2,000-mile radius of the region. This is part of their new initiative, OpenAI for Countries, which aims to work directly with governments around the world to develop sovereign AI capabilities, in coordination with the U.S. government.

The UAE isn’t just the first to join the initiative—it’s also making history. According to OpenAI, it will be the first country in the world to roll out ChatGPT nationwide, giving citizens across the nation seamless access to OpenAI’s technology. The announcement comes at a time when competition in AI infrastructure is heating up. Over the past week, Elon Musk revealed that xAI, his AI firm, aims to develop a training cluster for AI that is a gigawatt in scale.

With Stargate UAE, OpenAI is clearly signaling it intends to play a major role in shaping the global AI landscape—not just in the U.S., but around the world. Cisco Joins Forces with OpenAI, Oracle, and Others to Power New AI Data Center in the UAE San Jose, Calif., May 22, 2025 – Cisco is stepping into the future of AI in a big way.

As part of the initiative, Cisco will deliver its signature strengths: advanced networking, security, and observability technologies, helping accelerate the development of next-generation AI compute infrastructure.

Strengthening AI Across the Middle East

This announcement follows Robbins’ recent visits to Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE, where Cisco introduced a series of strategic moves to support the region’s AI ambitions. These efforts are part of Cisco’s broader commitment to supporting all phases of the AI journey—from data center infrastructure to secure networking solutions. By partnering with local leaders and global innovators, Cisco aims to play a central role in building a secure, scalable, and AI-driven digital future across the Middle East.

For more details on Cisco’s recent initiatives in the region, you can read more here (link placeholder).

About Cisco Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is a top provider of technology that helps enterprises safely interact, collaborate and succeed in the digital era. Over the past 40 years, Cisco has helped to shape networking and security with world-first products. Now, it is using AI to push productivity, strengthen resilience and encourage inclusive growth. Go to the Cisco Newsroom to learn more. The views expressed in this piece are subject to certain risks and uncertainties.  The company’s statements capture its present views, but they may change in the future if there are changes in the market, changes in the world around us or a change in business results.

Behind the Deal: U.S. and UAE AI Chip Agreement

Just last week, those talks paid off. A new agreement was reached that will allow the UAE to import up to 500,000 advanced AI chips each year—a major win for the country’s rapidly growing tech ambitions. This deal marks a significant shift in U.S. policy. It overturns restrictions put in place by the Biden administration, which had limited the export of high-end AI chips to only the most trusted U.S. allies, mainly out of concern that such technology could end up in the wrong hands—particularly China. With the new agreement in place, the UAE is now positioned to become a serious player in the global AI race, armed with the computing power it needs to fuel large-scale AI development and innovation.