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Stargate UAE phase 1 data center

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates · Abu Dhabi market · location approximate to city level

Also listed as Stargate data center Abu Dhabi.

Stargate UAE phase 1 is a data center project in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, operated by Khazna Data Centers. It is under construction. The only published capacity figure is 200 MW of total facility power. IT load will be lower.

Latest change on record: entered the record as under construction on 16 October 2025. Record last checked against its sources on 22 October 2026.

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Stage
Under construction
Planned IT load
200 MW
Total facility power
Running now
Not disclosed
Operators rarely publish this
Operator
Khazna Data Centers
Colocation
AI workloads
Likely
Evidence grade
Corroborated
Will it get built?Strong6 of 7 gates passed
✓ Land secured○ Power arranged✓ Approvals granted✓ Money committed✓ Tenant or own use✓ Builder appointed✓ Construction started

Next gate to watch: Power arranged.

Your call. Will it be built?

Build odds is ArusGrid's reading of the public record, not a forecast, a rating or advice. It counts the gates this project has passed in public sources. Private progress does not show, a passed gate can be undone, and projects that pass every gate still stop. The method has not yet been tested against outcomes. How it works.

How United Arab Emirates approves, powers and taxes data centers is on Data center rules in United Arab Emirates.

Where it sits

Abu Dhabi holds 7 active projects with 434 MW of planned IT load between them, and Stargate UAE phase 1 ranks first by planned capacity. Of those, 3 are operational and expanding and 4 are under construction. No third party publishes a colocation vacancy rate for Abu Dhabi, and ArusGrid does not estimate one.

Khazna has 6 others in the United Arab Emirates and 1 project elsewhere in the dataset tracked by ArusGrid, including Khazna Dubai Production City, Khazna QAJ1 and Khazna AUH6 (with AUH8 extension). Named funding comes from G42 and MGX on the equity side. Named users of the compute are OpenAI and Oracle (confirmed).

The stage was recorded as under construction on 16 October 2025.

The US export control position for advanced AI chips in the United Arab Emirates, as of 14 July 2026, is recorded as “Country Group A:5 with Supplement No. 8 approved end users”. ArusGrid holds 9 public sources for this project, the latest dated 11 September 2026, and last checked the record on 22 October 2026.

How well evidenced is it

Construction or financing is evidenced, or several independent signals agree. The rules are fixed and published on the Methodology page.

Reaching this stage requires a dated construction source, which corroborates the project on its own.

Named funderYes
Disclosed client (confirmed)Yes
Committed or approved capitalNo
Dated, sized phaseYes
Three or more sourcesYes
Dated source in the last 24 monthsYes

AI workloads

StatusLikely

Purpose-built AI cluster with OpenAI and Oracle named as operators of the compute and Nvidia as equipment partner. Stated AI purpose on a 200MW greenfield.

Access to AI chips

GradeGovernment-confirmed

A dated US government document names this project's operator, its parent, or a named funder as authorised to receive advanced computing items. Criteria are published on the Methodology page.

US licence required for this destination as enforcedYes
A party headquartered in China or Macau on the projectNo
Country-level export frameworkYes
A party named in a government authorisationYes
US approved operator or confirmed client on the projectYes
Named chip-vendor partnershipNo

G42 · Named in Supplement No. 8 to Part 740, licence-free under A:5 and License Exception STA. Earlier authorised 2025-11-19 for up to 35,000 Nvidia GB300 accelerators. (2026-07-14) Authorisation lapses 2027-04-06 source

Country Group A:5 with Supplement No. 8 approved end users · Country Group A:5 with Supplement No. 8 approved end users (2026-07-14) source

Phases

Phase 1 (first 200MW of the 1GW cluster) · Under construction200 MW, target 2026

Stage history

2025-10-16Under construction · thenationalnews.com

Who is behind it

OperatorKhazna Data Centers · Colocation
Funder, EquityG42
Funder, EquityMGX
Funder, EquitySoftBank

Who uses the compute

Runs compute here · AI labOpenAI · confirmed

200 MW · First 200MW phase of the 1GW Stargate UAE cluster, due Q3 2026 · as of 2025-12-05

OpenAI's own release announces a 1GW Stargate UAE cluster in Abu Dhabi with 200MW to go live in 2026, partners G42, Oracle, Nvidia, Cisco and SoftBank. Khazna, ArusGrid operator, is named by Mubadala's CEO as the builder of the first 200MW phase, due Q3 2026.

Source · Introducing Stargate UAE (OpenAI, 2025-05-22)

Source · Stargate UAE's first phase to be completed in third quarter of 2026 (The National, 2025-12-05)

Runs compute here · hyperscalerOracle · confirmed

Co-operator of the cluster with OpenAI · as of 2025-05-22

G42's launch statement, quoted verbatim by Gulf Business, says 'Stargate UAE will be built by G42 and operated by OpenAI and Oracle'. Oracle is also named as a partner in OpenAI's own release. Khazna's 2025-10-14 release says it delivers the infrastructure layer for Stargate UAE.

Source · Stargate UAE: G42, OpenAI, Oracle, NVIDIA, SoftBank, Cisco to build AI cluster (Gulf Business, 2025-05-22)

Source · Khazna Data Centers to Add Over 1GW Hyperscale Capacity Across Multiple Countries By 2030 (Khazna Data Centers, 2025-10-14)

Colocation price per kW of IT load per month

No published price band exists for United Arab Emirates, and ArusGrid does not estimate from the regional benchmark alone. What was searched is listed on the Colo prices page.

Project team
Main contractorALEC Data Center Solutions · AED 5,204m (≈US$1.4bn) · Oct 2025 Confirmed source ↗
EPC, Stargate phase 1
Design and build contractorALEC Data Center Solutions · AED 1.3bn (≈US$354m) Reported source ↗
Pre-construction deal, Abu Dhabi Stargate data centre
Grid and substation worksTaqat Transmission · Oct 2025 Reported source ↗
Transmission and grid works
Power supply
Power allocation or planMay 2025 Reported source ↗
Campus-level claim of nuclear, solar and gas power · Applies to the whole campus.

Sources checked 2026-10-22

  1. Introducing Stargate UAE (OpenAI, 2025-05-22)
  2. Stargate UAE's first phase to be completed in third quarter of 2026 (The National, 2025-12-05)
  3. UAE revises AI data center plan after Iranian attacks (Nukta (relaying Reuters), 2026-09-11)
  4. Exclusive-UAE revises AI data center plan after Iranian attacks, sources say (Reuters via Al-Monitor, 2026-09-11)
  5. G42 Provides Update on Construction of Stargate UAE AI Infrastructure Cluster (PR Newswire, 2025-10-16)
  6. Exclusive-UAE revises AI data center plan after Iranian attacks, sources say (Reuters (via KFGO), 2026-09-11)
  7. New update on Stargate UAE: First phase of 200MW to complete by 2026 (Gulf News, 2025-10-16)
  8. OpenAI Stargate UAE (Epoch AI, 2026-07-03)
  9. G42 Stargate UAE construction update 2025 (Tbreak, 2025-10-17)

More in Abu Dhabi

Also run by Khazna

All projects in Abu Dhabi · All projects in United Arab Emirates · All Khazna projects · All projects under construction · Data center rules in United Arab Emirates · Full directory

Planned MW is IT load, the power available to servers, unless marked otherwise. Running capacity is rarely published, so a missing figure means undisclosed. Definitions, sourcing standards and evidence rules are on the Methodology page. Data is CC BY-NC 4.0. Corrections go to corrections@arusgrid.com. Dataset updated 2026-10-18.