du launches 1GW AI Park; Khazna plans to add 1GW data centres
Middle East AI News weekly digest...
Good morning!
Welcome to this week’s Middle East AI News email digest, brought to you by big data analytics and AI company Presight!
The big news of the week is that GITEX is AI! An overwhelming number of exhibits, new products and news announcements from the mega-show are AI-focused this year.
Big deals announced at the show include: du’s plans to build a 1GW data centre capacity AI Park in Dubai; Abu Dhabi’s launch of a first-of-its-kind Population Health Intelligence platform; and du’s sovereign cloud deal with Dubai Taxi Company!
Thank you for reading! And if you’d like to find out more about our Strategic Sponsor Presight, find out more here!
/Carrington
Compute
du launches AI Park & hybrid AI platform
#UAE #datacentres – UAE telecoms leader du has inaugurated a 500,000-square-metre AI Park in Dubai’s Warsan district. The site will deliver up to 1GW of capacity through liquid-cooled hyperscale data centres and support AI research, start-ups and enterprise deployment via its new National Hybrid AI platform. (Middle East AI News)
Khazna plans over 1GW data capacity expansion
#UAE #datacenters – Khazna Data Centers will expand operational capacity by more than one gigawatt by 2030. The hyperscale provider plans 400MW of new facilities in Saudi Arabia and Italy, alongside domestic projects in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Ajman and the Stargate UAE AI cluster. (Middle East AI News)
du and Dubai Taxi sign sovereign cloud deal
#UAE #sovereigncloud – du has partnered with Dubai Taxi Company to migrate its core systems to du’s National Hypercloud, marking the UAE transport sector’s first sovereign hypercloud modernisation. The Oracle Alloy-based platform delivers AI-ready infrastructure, ensuring data sovereignty and regulatory compliance across operations. (Middle East AI News)
Cerebras to deploy Stargate UAE AI infrastructure
#UAE #AIInfrastructure – US-based Cerebras Systems will expand its global footprint under the Stargate UAE project, deploying megawatts of AI compute capacity across the Emirates. The move strengthens regional access to large-scale AI infrastructure. (Middle East AI News)
HUMAIN and center3 connect Saudi AI ambitions
#Saudi #ArtificialIntelligence – PIF-owned HUMAIN has signed a framework agreement with center3, an stc Group subsidiary, to power the Kingdom’s AI ecosystem with advanced connectivity infrastructure. The partnership secures high-capacity links to national and global networks. (Zawya)
MGX, AIP and BlackRock’s GIP to buy Aligned Data Centres
#UAE #AIInfrastructure – A consortium comprising MGX, the Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Partnership (AIP) and BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners will acquire Aligned Data Centres for $40 billion, in what MGX calls the largest private equity digital infrastructure deal on record. (The National)
Healthcare
Abu Dhabi DoH and Microsoft unveil AI health twin
#UAE #publichealth – The Department of Health – Abu Dhabi and Microsoft have launched the world’s first AI-powered Population Health Intelligence platform at GITEX Global 2025. The digital twin of Abu Dhabi’s healthcare system integrates clinical, lifestyle and environmental data to predict health risks and guide preventive policies on obesity and cancer. (Middle East AI News)
M42’s ADHDS launches Jordan Digital Health Center
#Jordan #virtualhospitals – M42’s Abu Dhabi Health Data Services, in partnership with Presight and the Jordanian government, has launched the Jordan Digital Health Centre as the country’s first virtual hospital. The telehealth platform links five hospitals to a central hub, cutting diagnostic report times by 86% and expanding access to critical care. (Zawya)
Funds
University of Dubai launches AED 100m Tech X Fund
#UAE #venturecapital – The University of Dubai has launched the AED 100 million ($27.23m) Dubai Tech X Fund to support deep tech and AI startups. Created in partnership with Significa Ventures, the fund aims to bridge academic research and venture investment, driving innovation across sectors such as energy, healthcare, education and smart cities. (WAM)
NeoCloud
Core42 unveils self-service AI Cloud at GITEX
#UAE #AIcloud – Core42 has launched a self-service AI Cloud at GITEX Global 2025, offering on-demand, Nvidia-accelerated computing via pay-as-you-go access. The platform enables secure model training and deployment within UAE sovereign cloud infrastructure. (Middle East AI News)
Intel partners with AIREV on agentic AI platform
#UAE #agenticAI– Intel has partnered with Abu Dhabi-based AIREV to optimise its OnDemand agentic AI platform for Intel Xeon and Gaudi processors. The collaboration aims to accelerate enterprise AI innovation and expand deployment of agentic systems. (Middle East AI News)
AI Sovereignty
Microsoft to localise Copilot data in UAE by 2026
#UAE #Copilot – Microsoft will enable in-country data processing for Microsoft 365 Copilot from early 2026. Data will be hosted in Dubai and Abu Dhabi data centres to comply with national AI standards, ensuring sovereign, secure and responsible adoption of Copilot services. (Middle East AI News)
Quantum
Aramco and NVIDIA unveil Dammam-7Q quantum emulator
#Saudi #energy – Saudi Aramco and NVIDIA have launched the Dammam-7Q, one of the world’s largest quantum computing emulators, running on Aramco’s Dammam-7 supercomputer in Dhahran. Using NVIDIA’s CUDA-Q platform, it can emulate up to 30 qubits per GPU to advance quantum algorithms for energy-sector applications. (Middle East AI News)
Government
Abu Dhabi debuts TAMM 4.0 with world’s first AutoGov
#UAE #DigitalGovernment – Abu Dhabi’s Department of Government Enablement has launched TAMM 4.0 at GITEX Global 2025, introducing the world’s first AutoGov function. The AI-powered system autonomously manages tasks such as licence renewals and healthcare appointments. (Abu Dhabi Media Office)
Education
Saudi launches Mostaqbali to train 50,000 in AI skills
#Saudi #training – Saudi’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has launched the Mostaqbali programme to train 50,000 Saudis in AI and digital technologies. Partnering with Oracle and the National eLearning Center, it offers 23 learning tracks. (Saudi Press Agency)
Egypt launches AI for FinTech Hackathon under FinTech Egypt
#Egypt #hackathons – Central Bank of Egypt and Egypt’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology have launched the AI for FinTech Hackathon under the FinTech Egypt initiative. Targeting students in the Digital Egypt Builders Initiative, the event develops AI and analytics skills to address real banking challenges and nurture future FinTech leaders. (Central Bank of Egypt)
Real Estate
Holo launches AI platform to transform home-buying
#UAE #proptech – Dubai-based Holo has unveiled a new AI-powered platform that streamlines every stage of the home-buying process, from mortgage applications to property matching. (Zawya)
CoEs & AI Hubs
PwC opens first MENA Digital Resilience Center in Morocco
#Morocco #cybersecurity – PwC has inaugurated its first MENA Digital Resilience Centre in Casablanca to strengthen cybersecurity, business continuity and fraud prevention across the region. The Centre supports Morocco’s national goal to train 100,000 digital specialists by 2030. (Morocco World News)
Research
ADIA Lab appoints two Nobel laureates to advisory board
#UAE #research – Abu Dhabi’s ADIA Lab has added Nobel Laureates Professor Robert F. Engle and Professor Sir Konstantin Novoselov to its advisory board, expanding it to 12 global experts. The appointments strengthen oversight of the Lab’s AI and data science research. (Middle East AI News)
[ This newsletter was both AI edited & human edited ]