G42, the United Arab Emirates’ leading artificial intelligence company, expects the first shipments of some of the world’s most advanced chips to arrive in the country within months, bolstering its efforts to become a major player in the technology.
The deliveries will include chips from Nvidia Corp., Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and US startup Cerebras Systems Inc., Chief Executive Officer Peng Xiao said in an interview with Bloomberg TV in Davos.
The Middle East has become a magnet for tech groups such as ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and Microsoft Corp., drawn by deep pools of capital and relatively cheap energy for computing.
In November, the US approved the sale of tens of thousands of advanced AI chips to G42 and Saudi Arabia’s Humain, despite political concerns that the technology could ultimately make its way to China. Weeks later, the UAE signed the Pax Silica pact with the US, committing to closer cooperation on technology supply chains.
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The first 200 megawatts of capacity from a major data-centre build-out in Abu Dhabi is set to come online “in the next couple of months”, Xiao said.
G42 plans to add between 200MW and 500MW of capacity each quarter, eventually expanding the site to as much as 5 gigawatts over the coming years. The project is part of an overseas expansion of OpenAI’s Stargate initiative, to develop large-scale AI infrastructure outside the US.
Concerns that the global rush to build data centers could lead to overcapacity are misplaced, Xiao said, particularly when it comes the computing required to run AI models for users. “The supply will struggle to keep up with the demand,” he said.
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G42, chaired by the UAE’s national security adviser Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, plays a central role in the country’s push to become a global AI player. It struck a $1.5 billion partnership with Microsoft and, alongside sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Co., is a founding partner of MGX, an AI-focused investment vehicle.
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The UAE’s AI ambitions come as regional peers like Saudi Arabia and Qatar also ramp up investments. Xiao downplayed talk of rivalry, calling the broader regional push a reflection of global demand.
Still, speaking at Davos, the Qatar Investment Authority’s CEO said the fund would take a more selective approach to AI this year. Meanwhile, Mubadala’s chief said the fund had “a lot of conviction” in the sector.