{"id":3893,"date":"2025-11-27T13:47:06","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T10:47:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gulfdca.com\/?p=3893"},"modified":"2025-11-27T13:47:06","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T10:47:06","slug":"weekly-news-blast-27th-november-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gulfdca.com\/en\/weekly-news-blast-27th-november-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekly News Blast – 27th November 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Welcome to the GDCA Weekly News Blast! Check out the latest industry news from the GCC region below. Have any Middle East data centres news you\u2019d like to share? Email yours to imogen@gulfdca.com<\/a> with NEWS<\/strong> in the subject line.<\/div>\n
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Industry News<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Saudi Arabia<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Humain unveils major AI partnerships<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia\u2019s state-backed AI firm Humain has announced a wave of major partnerships signalling one of the most ambitious AI infrastructures build-outs globally. This week, Humain revealed a 1GW joint venture with AMD and Cisco, combining Humain\u2019s data centres with AMD GPUs and Cisco networking, beginning with an initial 100MW deployment and supported by a new AMD Center of Excellence in the Kingdom. In parallel, Elon Musk\u2019s xAI has partnered with Humain to develop a 500MW AI data centre, xAI\u2019s first outside the US, designed to host Grok models and form part of a wider national network of advanced compute hubs. Humain has also deepened its collaboration with AWS, selecting it as its preferred global AI partner and agreeing to deploy 150,000 AI chips (including Nvidia GB300s and AWS Trainium) at a new $5Bn \u2018AI Zone\u2019 in Riyadh. Backed by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and targeting 6.6GW of capacity over the next decade, Humain is rapidly positioning Saudi Arabia as a global centre for high-performance AI infrastructure\u2026<\/p>\n

xAI and Humain \u2026Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

AMD, Cisco, and Humain \u2026Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

AWS and Humain …Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

Center3 and Sahara Net announce new colocation partnership<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Center3, with a portfolio of around 20 operational and in-development data centres, has signed a strategic colocation partnership with Saudi IT firm Sahara Net, enabling the company to deploy dedicated hosting services across Center3\u2019s facilities in the Kingdom. While specific deployment details were not disclosed, both companies said the collaboration will strengthen Saudi Arabia\u2019s colocation ecosystem and support national digital-transformation objectives. Center3, which aims to reach 300MW of installed capacity by 2027 and 1GW by 2030, said the partnership reinforces its mission to build an open, interconnected digital infrastructure. Sahara Net added that the move expands its service portfolio and aligns Vision 2030\u2019s push for a more connected and sustainable digital future. Center3\u2019s broader ecosystem includes partnerships with Humain and DataVolt, and customers such as Oracle, Zoom, and Huawei\u2026Read more <\/a><\/p>\n

UAE<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

UAE announces plans to invest $1Bn in AI infrastructure across Africa <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The UAE has announced a $1Bn investment in AI infrastructure across Africa, unveiled at the G20 Summit in Johannesburg. Led by the UAE Minister of State Saeed Bin Mubarak Al Hajeri, the initiative will provide African nations with access to AI computing power, technical expertise, and global partnerships, with implementation directed through the Abu Dhabi Exports Office. While details on project scope and country allocation have not yet been disclosed, the move reinforces the UAE\u2019s growing role as a global digital infrastructure investor. It follows major commitments at home through Khazna Data Centres and abroad via MGX and comes just a week after the UAE pledged $50Bn towards AI and energy projects in Canada. Africa\u2019s data centre market remains in an early but uneven growth phase, concentrated largely in South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria\u2026Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

Oracle deploys Middle East\u2019s first Nvidia Blackwell Supercluster in Abu Dhabi<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Oracle is expanding its Abu Dhabi cloud region with the Middle East\u2019s first OCI Supercluster, deploying more than 4,000 Nvidia Blackwell GPUs to support sovereign AI ambitions across the region. The Supercluster will give governments and enterprises in the UAE and wider Middle East access to advanced in-region AI compute, aligning with Abu Dhabi\u2019s vision for an AI-native government by 2027. Oracle and Nvidia said the deployment delivers \u2018\u2019unprecedented\u2019\u2019 performance and data-sovereign AI capabilities by combining Nvidia\u2019s accelerated computing with OCI\u2019s secure, distributed cloud. The announcement follows the recent easing of US chip-export restrictions to the UAE and comes amid Oracle\u2019s rapid scale-up in the Gulf, including expanded sovereign cloud services and multi-billion-dollar investment commitments in the UAE and Saudi Arabia\u2026Read more<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Industry leaders highlight sustained AI demand in the UAE<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Industry leaders from Nebius, Equinix, Du, and Khazna say the UAE\u2019s rapid data centre expansion is underpinned by strong fundamentals, not an emerging AI bubble. The UAE has grown from 130MW of operational capacity three years ago to more than 400MW today, with expectations of reaching 1GW by 2030. Operators report exceptionally high fill rates, Khazna\u2019s 100MW Ajman site is fully sold, and a recent 200MW tranche saw customers \u2018\u2019queuing out the door\u2019\u2019, signalling sustained demand. They highlighted the UAE\u2019s unique advantages: aligned government policy, abundant land and competitive power for AI training clusters, and a strategic location that enables low-latency inference for billions of users across Asia, Africa, and Europe. While power availability varies by location and may require new PPA or behind-the-meter models, the market\u2019s ability to stand up capacity at exceptional speed positions the UAE to benefit from both training and inference workloads. Although not every AI venture will succeed, experts argued that the region\u2019s digital infrastructure ecosystem is well placed to support the models that will define long-term growth\u2026Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

Kuwait<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

KIA backs Brookfield\u2019s $10Bn global AI infrastructure fund<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) has reportedly joined Brookfield Asset Management\u2019s $10Bn AI infrastructure fund, which has already raised $5Bn from Nvidia and Brookfield. The Canadian investment giant plans to leverage the fund, alongside further co-investment and debt, to deploy up to $100Bn into global AI infrastructure, including a recent $5Bn partnership with Bloom Energy to roll out fuel-cell technology across data centres. The move adds to a wave of Gulf investment in AI, with KIA also anchoring the $30Bn AI Infrastructure Partnership earlier this year and the UAE and IS advancing the 5GW \u2018Stargate UAE\u2019 AI campus in Abu Dhabi. Saudi Arabia\u2019s Humain is similarly scaling fast, targeting 1.9GW of data centre capacity by 2030 and 6.6GW by 2034 following Aramco\u2019s recent minority stake. Despite significant capital flows, a McKinsey report notes many Gulf companies have yet to see clear financial returns from their AI investments\u2026Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

GCC<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

US approves advanced chip sales to Saudi Arabia and the UAE<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The US has approved the sale of up to 70,000 advanced AI chips to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, granting each country\u2019s national AI champion \u2013 Saudi Arabia\u2019s Humain and the UAE\u2019s G42 \u2013 permission to purchase up to 35,000 Nvidia GB300 systems (or equivalents). The approval is contingent on strict, undisclosed security and reporting requirements. The decision enables Humain to progress its plan to deploy 18,000 GB300s as part of a wider ambition to roll out 600,000 Nvidia chips over the next 3 years, while also marking a significant reversal for G42, long scrutinised in the US for its China ties. Both nations have paired their AI ambitions with major US investment commitments: KSA recently pledged nearly $1Tn across strategic sectors, while the UAE has committed $1.4Tn over the next decade\u2026Read more<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the GDCA Weekly News Blast! Check out the latest industry news from the GCC region below. Have any Middle East data centres news you\u2019d like to share? Email yours to imogen@gulfdca.com with NEWS in the subject line. Industry News Saudi Arabia Humain unveils major AI partnerships Saudi Arabia\u2019s state-backed AI firm Humain has<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1572,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-weekly-news-blast"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gulfdca.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gulfdca.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gulfdca.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gulfdca.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gulfdca.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3893"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/gulfdca.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3893\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3895,"href":"https:\/\/gulfdca.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3893\/revisions\/3895"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gulfdca.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gulfdca.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gulfdca.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gulfdca.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}