Technology

UAE AI Data Center Timeline 2017–2026: Inside the 5-Gigawatt AI Infrastructure Plan

The UAE, G42 and U.S. partners including OpenAI, Oracle and Nvidia have announced a 5-gigawatt AI campus near Abu Dhabi. 5 GW is a planned power-capacity targe…

Swipe to explore ›
AiTimeline Home
NATIONAL AI STRATEGY

UAE Launches Its National AI Strategy

In October 2017, the UAE launched the UAE Strategy for Artificial Intelligence, part of its Centennial 2071 vision, and named Omar Sultan Al Olama the world's first Mini…

AiTimeline Home
G42 FOUNDED

G42 Is Founded in Abu Dhabi

Group 42 (G42) was founded in 2018, chaired by UAE national security adviser Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan and led by CEO Peng Xiao, with a mission to make AI “a na…

AiTimeline Home
MBZUAI FOUNDED

MBZUAI Is Founded — Classes Begin in 2021

MBZUAI, the world's first graduate-level AI research university, was initiated in October 2019 and licensed in April 2020 — but didn't teach its first graduate students…

AiTimeline Home
COMPUTE BECOMES STRATEGIC

Jais Arabic LLM Ships as Global AI Demand Explodes

G42's Inception released Jais on 30 August 2023, the world's most advanced open-source Arabic LLM, trained on the Condor Galaxy 1 supercomputer with Cerebras and MBZUAI.…

AiTimeline Home
MICROSOFT INVESTS $1.5B

Microsoft Invests $1.5 Billion in G42

On 16 April 2024, Microsoft announced a $1.5B minority investment in G42, with Brad Smith joining its board. The deal included a first-of-its-kind Intergovernmental Assu…

AiTimeline Home
5-GW CAMPUS & STARGATE UAE

5-GW Campus Announced, Stargate UAE Launches

During President Trump's UAE visit, the 5-GW UAE-U.S. AI Campus was unveiled, followed days later (22 May) by Stargate UAE — a 1-GW compute cluster within it, built by G…

AiTimeline Home
CHIPS APPROVED, PHASE 1 TAR…

Nvidia Chip Exports Approved, First 200 MW Targeted

The U.S. approved advanced Nvidia Blackwell-class chip exports to G42 in November 2025 (up to ~35,000 chips). In December, G42 targeted Q3 2026 for completing the first…

AiTimeline Home
REGIONAL ATTACKS

Iranian Strikes Reportedly Hit AWS Data Centers

Around 1 March 2026, drones or missiles reportedly struck three AWS data centers — two in the UAE, one in Bahrain — forcing them offline and disrupting regional banking…

AiTimeline Home
PLAN UNDER REVIEW

UAE Reportedly Reconsiders a Single Mega-Campus

On 11 September 2026, Reuters reported — citing people familiar with discussions — that the UAE was likely to shift from one 10-sq-mi campus toward a distributed network…

AiTimeline Home

Want the full timeline?

Read the complete story, FAQs and key facts.

AiTimeline Home