The United Arab Emirates is set to activate the first 200 megawatts (MW) of high-density artificial intelligence compute at its flagship Stargate UAE project, a landmark step in the nation’s mission to become a global leader in sovereign AI infrastructure. The milestone represents the initial phase of what will become one of the world’s largest and most advanced AI compute clusters, ultimately targeting 1 gigawatt (GW) of capacity in Abu Dhabi.
Stargate, being developed by Khazna Data Centers, a subsidiary of the UAE technology group G42, forms part of the broader 5 GW UAE–U.S. AI Campus, announced earlier this year. The cluster is being built in partnership with global technology leaders including OpenAI, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Cisco, SoftBank, and Oracle. The project is designed to deliver frontier-scale compute power that will support the training and deployment of the world’s most advanced AI models.
According to officials overseeing the project, construction on the first 200 MW module is on an accelerated schedule, with structural, mechanical, and electrical works progressing in parallel. Key modular components for the data-center infrastructure are already in production, enabling a compressed construction timeline. The first block of compute is expected to come online in 2026, aligning with the UAE’s broader national AI roadmap.
The 200 MW activation is seen as a transformational step for the UAE, providing the computational backbone required to support large-scale AI training, inference, scientific research, national digital services, and next-generation cloud applications. Once operational, the facility will significantly enhance the UAE’s sovereign compute capabilities, reducing its reliance on foreign infrastructure and enabling the country to host and develop large-parameter AI models domestically.
The Stargate project is designed not only as a physical data-center complex but as a complete AI ecosystem. It will house research environments, enterprise AI development platforms, high-performance cloud clusters, and secure networks for government, healthcare, energy, finance, and industry. The cluster forms the foundation of the UAE’s emerging “Intelligence Grid” a vision to integrate advanced AI across major sectors of the economy.
OpenAI has stated that Stargate UAE will be its first international deployment of its frontier compute platform, enabling rapid development cycles and contributing to global AI research. Meanwhile, Cisco is providing advanced networking and security systems for the cluster, ensuring resilient, high-throughput connectivity for millions of AI workloads.
Energy for the wider 5 GW campus will be sourced from nuclear, solar, and natural gas facilities to support the massive power demands of AI compute at scale. The UAE plans to position the site as a global benchmark for sustainable, high-density AI data-center design.
As the first 200 MW approaches completion, industry analysts say the project is already reshaping technology investment patterns across the region. With the UAE accelerating toward large-scale AI infrastructure leadership, Stargate is expected to become a central driver of innovation, economic diversification, and digital transformation for decades to come.
