Gulf States Forge Ahead with AI Megaprojects Amid Conflict Risks
The Persian Gulf's wealthy nations are pushing forward with massive data center buildouts to establish themselves as leading hubs for artificial intelligence infrastructure. Despite the challenges posed by the escalating US-Iran conflict, the UAE and Saudi Arabia are investing heavily in AI megaprojects.
The UAE's Stargate UAE project aims to create a 5 GW AI campus in Abu Dhabi, with an initial 1 GW operational cluster already underway. In contrast, Saudi Arabia's HUMAIN initiative targets 1.9 GW of AI compute capacity by 2030 and 6.9 GW by 2034.
The Gulf region is on track to reach 8-10 GW of collective AI compute capacity, making it one of the most significant AI infrastructure hubs globally. To put this into perspective, a single gigawatt can power approximately 750,000 homes.