Discussions over a multi-billion US dollar agreement between the US and Emirati governments to create one of the world’s leading AI data campus hubs in Abu Dhabi are still a long way off reaching closing.
The high-profile launch of the service at a summit hosted in the UAE by President Donald Trump, has been sidelined amid continued U.S. security concerns, reports claim.
The proposed 10-square-mile “AI Campus” will house 5 gigawatts of data center capacity, with the first phase, known as “Stargate UAE,” projected to launch in 2026. This phase alone is expected to consume as many as 100,000 of Nvidia’s most advanced AI chips, the Grace Blackwell GB300 systems.
The project is being financed by G42, an Emirati state-linked technology company, and is intended to establish the UAE as a global power in artificial intelligence. The project is also said to be backed by some major American tech companies, including Nvidia, OpenAI, Cisco and Oracle as well as Japanese SoftBank, in its early stages.
Trump administration officials have hailed the deal as a strategic win driving Gulf states towards US technology rather than Chinese alternatives but sources familiar with the most sensitive negotiations said there were substantial challenges. U.S. officials have yet to detail what the specific security standards will be for shipments of the advanced AI chips or how the agreement will be monitored to ensure that the technology does not get shipped elsewhere.
Of particular concern is the UAE’s traditionally intimate relationship with China, including installing 5G technology from Huawei. Even though Abu Dhabi has vowed to synchronize its national security policies with those of Washington, concern persists in both Republican and Democratic quarters about the ease with which the UAE can protect sensitive U.S. technology.
Some reports indicate that potential U.S. roads blocks could ban Chinese tech from being used at the campus, and/or limit the number of Chinese workers employed at the AI campus.
It is also not clear when the United States will finalise the deal, as the U.S. administration has no set timeframe, and the UAE could also demand changes to any controls imposed on them, which could lead to further delay.
Despite the commitment to eventually finalise the deal, the ongoing negotiations underscore the cat-and-mouse game of economic ambition, technical progress and foreign-policy strategy at play in the booming field of global AI. Tackling these security issues successfully, will be foundational in the creation of this historic US-UAE AI Data Campus”
