UAE’s Stargate data centre to cost $30bn, says AI minister

• Omar Al Olama at Abu Dhabi summit
• First phase expected in Q3 2026
• Campus will measure 19 sq km

The cost of the UAE’s flagship Stargate data centre project will rise to more than $30 billion, the country’s AI minister has said.

Omar Al Olama told the Machines Can Think summit in Abu Dhabi that the 5-gigawatt development would be larger than Monaco and position the Gulf state at the forefront of the AI revolution.

He described Stargate as “the most famous piece of evidence” of the UAE’s ability to build projects “that no one has the audacity to dream of”.

The latest cost estimate represents a 50 percent increase from initial projections of $20 billion made in spring 2025. The project’s first phase is expected to be completed by the third quarter of this year.

The Stargate UAE campus will span 19.2 square kilometres in Abu Dhabi, making it more than nine times the size of Monaco on the French Riviera. It is designed to provide the computing power required to train and deploy advanced generative AI.

Speaking on January 26, Al Olama pointed to the UAE’s growing expertise in developing large language models (LLMs) for AI and the increasing importance of data sovereignty.

“We want to ensure that countries have an option that does not look for profit and does not look for specific commercial gains, but focuses on giving all these countries sovereign options,” he said.

Al Olama said Emirati LLMs such as Jais and K2 Think had delivered economic benefits while allowing other countries to leverage the UAE’s technological progress.

Khazna Data Centres, a unit of Abu Dhabi-based AI group G42, is developing Stargate with support from technology companies including OpenAI, Oracle, Nvidia, Cisco and SoftBank. South Korea has also joined the project.

• Opinion: Gulf gigawatts determine who leads in AI
• OpenAI meets Middle East investors for $50bn fundraising
• UAE joins US-led coalition for artificial intelligence