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South Korea to join UAE’s $22b Stargate AI project
South Korea will join the United Arab Emirates’ Stargate AI infrastructure project, which aims to build large-scale AI data centers in Abu Dhabi.
The Stargate initiative, led by US companies including OpenAI, plans an initial investment of over US$22 billion and a maximum capacity of up to 5 gigawatts.
This decision follows a summit between South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan during Lee’s state visit to the UAE.
Korea seeks to contribute expertise in energy, batteries, and climate technology as part of the project.
Both countries also signed seven memorandums of understanding to boost cooperation in areas such as nuclear technology, AI, bio health, intellectual property, and space.
The summit highlighted ongoing partnerships, including previous work on the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant and the deployment of the Korean Akh military unit in the UAE.
🔗 Source: The Korea Times
🧠 Food for thought
Implications, context, and why it matters.
South Korea’s entry fits Stargate UAE’s power and infrastructure needs
- Stargate UAE targets up to 5 gigawatts (GW) of AI data center capacity led by G42, an Abu Dhabi AI and cloud company. OpenAI; Oracle; Nvidia; Cisco; and SoftBank are partners. South Korea will bring energy and battery know-how. Both governments cited work on the Barakah nuclear plant 1.
- OpenAI teams discuss on-site generation using uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) and capacitors. Abilene is a Stargate US site and uses on-site gas. xAI’s Colossus uses battery storage 2. UAE design choices are not public 2.
- Recent Stargate updates use coalition agreements and Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs). Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs); grid links; land terms; and Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) awards are not public 3.
- Public details remain early, and the MoU approach suggests the $22 billion is pre-financing rather than shovel-ready.
AI infrastructure suppliers should track Abu Dhabi procurement timelines as tenders emerge
- A 5 GW build will drive orders for high-density liquid cooling systems; transformers; switchgear; and modular builds.
- Data center developers in the Middle East should watch G42 and Abu Dhabi entities for Requests for Proposals (RFPs). The Emirate recently issued cloud and data center tenders 4.
- Stargate projects use chips from Nvidia and AMD; Broadcom is in the mix for other AI workloads 2. That breadth gives hardware investors wider exposure. Liquid cooling and energy storage suppliers will benefit as power density climbs at future sites 2.
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