By Avi Kaner
Abu Dhabi is rapidly assembling what will likely become the largest artificial intelligence hub outside the United States. This is a mega-project built on American technology, American capital, and close strategic cooperation between the UAE and Washington. The heart of the plan is a new high-performance computing campus on the outskirts of the capital. It is already reshaping the technological landscape of the entire region.
The campus is projected to span nearly 10 square miles. Once fully operational, it is expected to deliver up to 5 gigawatts of computing power. That scale is unprecedented in the Middle East. Phase one includes about 1 gigawatt of capacity, starting with 200 megawatts. It will host more than 100,000 Nvidia Grace Blackwell GB300 chips, the most advanced AI processors available today. This will make Abu Dhabi the primary computing backbone for the Middle East, Africa, and parts of South Asia.
The most significant part of the project is the depth of cooperation between the UAE and the United States. After months of technical and regulatory review, Washington approved the export and deployment of advanced Nvidia AI chips in the Emirates. That approval unlocked the full speed of development. Microsoft, which already has a major presence in the UAE, is a central partner.
Between 2023 and 2029, Microsoft is committing $15.2 billion in the UAE. This includes a $1.5 billion equity investment in G42, the Emirati AI leader driving the initiative. More than $4.6 billion will go toward new AI and cloud data-center infrastructure, with more than $1.2 billion in local operational spending. Another $7.9 billion is planned from 2026 to 2029 to expand AI infrastructure across Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
MGX adds even more scale. It is a major AI investment platform backed by Mubadala and G42. MGX aims to manage more than $100 billion in AI-focused assets by 2030. It is already tied to a $100 billion global AI infrastructure partnership with BlackRock, Global Infrastructure Partners, and Microsoft. This shows that Abu Dhabi is not only building an AI cluster. It is positioning itself as a global AI capital.
The combination of American semiconductors, American cloud platforms, and Emirati capital and ambition is creating a new model for national AI development. Abu Dhabi is no longer simply entering the AI race. It is helping set the pace. With land, energy, funding, and deep alignment with Washington, the UAE is building sovereign, world-class AI capabilities that will define its technological future for decades to come.
