Chip designer NVIDIA has stated that the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are main a world race to construct sovereign synthetic intelligence infrastructure, because the Gulf’s knowledge centre capability and funding urge for food attain report highs.
“The urge for food right here is unmatched,” stated Marc Domenech, Regional Director of Enterprise for the Center East, Turkey and Africa, in an interview with Arabian Enterprise at GITEX World in Dubai. “We’re seeing actual initiatives, not simply bulletins. The UAE and Saudi Arabia are main the area, and each are investing closely in sovereign AI, knowledge sovereignty, and world-class infrastructure.”
Domenech stated knowledge centre readiness has develop into a central focus for NVIDIA, with the area’s complete capability anticipated to surpass 200 megawatts subsequent 12 months, supported by the corporate’s newest Blackwell GPUs and liquid-cooling know-how.
“Once I first arrived seven years in the past, knowledge centres right here had been operating on two or three kilowatts per rack, principally CPUs. Immediately, that has fully modified,” he stated. “The Gulf has caught up quick, and it’s now one of many best-prepared areas globally for GPU-based computing.”
NVIDIA fuels Center East AI infrastructure
The corporate’s largest regional collaborations embody Abu Dhabi’s Expertise Innovation Institute (TII), the place NVIDIA has launched the Center East’s first joint AI and robotics analysis lab, and Core42, which operates an AI cloud platform constructed on NVIDIA’s accelerated computing methods. It additionally works with Saudi Aramco on quantum-computing analysis and with companions resembling Deloitte, Tabby, and Gigabyte’s Giga Computing to scale AI infrastructure throughout industries.
Domenech stated NVIDIA’s technique within the area is to construct long-term functionality moderately than pursue short-term gross sales. “We don’t promote straight. We undergo companions and put money into the ecosystem. That’s what creates sustainable progress,” he stated.
He added that governments within the Gulf at the moment are shifting from “AI exploration to AI deployment,” with sovereign knowledge insurance policies enabling them to handle and develop nationwide AI methods independently.
“Sovereign AI is about guaranteeing nations can develop and handle their very own capabilities,” he stated. “It’s not nearly shopping for know-how; it’s about constructing it regionally.”
The UAE and Saudi Arabia stay NVIDIA’s two largest markets within the area, adopted by South Africa, Qatar and Turkey.
“The chance right here is very large,” Domenech stated. “What we’re seeing within the Gulf as we speak is not only native progress. These nations at the moment are taking part in a world function within the AI race.”
