The United Arab Emirates is stepping up its ambition to become a global technology and artificial intelligence hub, with the United States emerging as a key partner in its strategy. The Gulf nation is using its financial strength, energy resources, and close ties with American technology companies to build large-scale computing infrastructure and reduce its dependence on oil.
The partnership gained momentum under the Trump administration, which has made it easier for the UAE to access advanced US chips. The shift follows earlier restrictions under the Biden administration that limited the export of sensitive semiconductor technology to the country.
At the center of the plan is a five-gigawatt AI campus in the UAE, announced as part of a roughly $30 billion investment framework. The project is intended to make the country an important location for data centers and computing infrastructure serving businesses and users across the region.
The UAE sees technology as a way to diversify its economy beyond hydrocarbons. Officials and executives have increasingly described the goal as moving from an oil-based economy toward one that exports technology and digital services.
State-backed technology company G42 is playing a central role in that transformation. The company has strengthened its links with American technology firms and has committed to moving away from Chinese technology partnerships while building closer relationships with US companies.
The UAE's advantages are significant. It has abundant energy, substantial capital and a government that can approve large infrastructure projects relatively quickly. Those factors are becoming increasingly valuable as technology companies struggle to find enough electricity, land and suitable locations for new data centers in the US and Europe.
One of the most important projects is Stargate UAE, an infrastructure initiative involving G42, OpenAI, Oracle, NVIDIA, Cisco and SoftBank. The project includes a planned 1-gigawatt computing cluster in Abu Dhabi, with an initial 200-megawatt phase expected to become operational during 2026.
The UAE has also committed to investing in US infrastructure, creating a two-way relationship rather than simply importing American technology.
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The UAE's ambitions, however, face an unexpected complication: the continuing conflict with Iran. The war has raised concerns about the security of sensitive infrastructure in the Gulf. Reports of attacks affecting data-center facilities have forced technology companies and investors to reconsider the risks of locating critical computing capacity in the region. Amazon Web Services, for example, has said that some facilities in the UAE remain unable to reliably support customer applications.
There are also concerns about the availability of skilled workers. The UAE relies heavily on expatriate technology professionals, and a prolonged regional conflict could make some specialists less willing to relocate.
Despite these challenges, the UAE is continuing with its plans. Its partnership with Washington is becoming an increasingly important part of its technology strategy, while the US also has an interest in keeping the country aligned with its technology ecosystem rather than allowing China to gain greater influence.
The result is a high-stakes experiment: the UAE is betting that its money, energy and infrastructure can turn it into a major global computing hub, even as geopolitical risks complicate that ambition.