According to a new Bloomberg report, Openai is expected to help develop a stunning 5 gigawatt data center campus in Abu Dhabi, positioning the company as a major anchor tenant, which could become one of the world's largest AI infrastructure projects.

The facility will reportedly span a staggering 10 square miles and consume the equivalent of five nuclear reactors, dwarfing any existing AI infrastructure announced by OpenAI or its competitors. (Openai has not returned a request for comment from TechCrunch, but is to attribute it to a larger angle than Monaco.)

The UAE project is developed in partnership with G42 (a technology group based on Abu Dhabi) as part of OpenAI's ambitious Stargate project, a joint venture announced in January that can see OpenAI, Softbank and Oracle build large numbers of data centers around the world and have powerful computer chips around the world to support AI development.

Although Openai's first Stargate campus in Abilene, Texas, is expected to reach 1.2 gigawatts in the United States, the Middle East opposition will be more than four times its capacity.

The project is developing in the wider relationship between the United States and the UAE, which has been years and has nervous some lawmakers.

Openai’s relationship with the UAE can be traced back to a partnership with G42 in 2023, aiming to drive the adoption of AI in the Middle East. In a speech in Abu Dhabi earlier that year, Openai CEO Sam Altman praised the UAE, saying “has been talking about AI since it was cool.”

Like most of the AI ​​world, these relationships are complex. Founded in 2018, G42 is hosted by the UAE National Security Advisor and younger brother Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Openai's embrace caught the attention of U.S. officials at the end of 2023, who feared that the G42 could allow the Chinese government to access advanced U.S. technology.

These concerns focus on the “positive relationship” of G42 with blacklisted entities including Huawei and Beijing Institute of Genomics, and their connections to individuals related to China’s intelligence work.

Under pressure from U.S. lawmakers, the CEO of G42 told Bloomberg in early 2024 that the company was changing its strategy, saying: "All the Chinese investments we have made before have been divested. Of course, due to this, we no longer need any physical China presence."

Soon after, Microsoft was a major shareholder in Openai with a wider interest in the region - announcing a $1.5 billion investment in the G42, with its president Brad Smith joining the G42 board.