{"id":4081,"date":"2026-02-12T11:30:49","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T08:30:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gulfdca.com\/?p=4081"},"modified":"2026-02-11T13:47:27","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T10:47:27","slug":"weekly-news-blast-12th-february-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gulfdca.com\/en\/weekly-news-blast-12th-february-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekly News Blast – 12th February 2026"},"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

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

Government launches AI efficiency pilot across Khazna data centers<\/i><\/b><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

The UAE Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, Khazna Data Centers, and Agility have launched a pilot to test Seattle-based AI firm Phaidra\u2019s control technology across selected Khazna campuses, aiming to improve energy efficiency in data centres and district cooling in the UAE. Under a non-binding MoU, Phaidra\u2019s AI agents will be evaluated for optimising power, cooling, and workload management \u2013 particularly for high-temperature Middle East conditions \u2013 with the stated goals of cutting cooling energy use, increasing usable IT capacity, and improving reliability (with Phaidra claiming potential reductions of up to 40%). The partners say the initiative supports the UAE\u2019s wider sustainability agenda and Khazna\u2019s AI-focused roadmap, including work with Nividia, and the results will inform whether AI-driven optimisation can be scaled nationally. The announcement comes as Khazna continues to expand rapidly in the UAE (including infrastructure for Stargate UAE) and internationally, with major projects underway in Italy and Egypt\u2026Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

G42 expands into Vietnam with $1Bn AI and cloud commitments<\/i><\/b><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Abu Dhabi-backed technology group G42 has signed a partnership with a consortium including FPT Corporation and Viet Thai Group to develop hyperscale data centres and AI infrastructure across Vietnam. Backed by consumption commitments of up to $1Bn, the agreement will deploy significant cloud capacity across three Vietnamese data centre locations, delivering high-performance AI and cloud services for both the public and private sectors. The partners position the initiative as supporting Vietnam\u2019s ambition to become a Southeast Asia AI hub, with an emphasis on data sovereignty and digital resilience, alongside plans for national AI skilling and workforce development. The deal also reflects the UAE\u2019s wider push \u2013 via players such as G42 and sovereign-backed investors \u2013 to deepen global AI partnerships across chips, cloud, data, and cybersecurity\u2026Read more<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Oman<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Green AI & Connectivity: Oman\u2019s Digital Triangle strategy highlighted at Datacloud Middle East<\/i><\/b><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

On a panel at Datacloud Middle East, a standout theme was how Oman is translating national digital ambition into concrete, investment-ready platforms for hyperscale cloud and AI. Speakers highlighted the Sultanate\u2019s whole-of-government approach through its National Digital Economy Programme, which aims to grow the digital economy fivefold in the coming years, with joined-up delivery across infrastructure, logistics, talent, and regulation. Central to this is Oman\u2019s \u2018\u2019Digital Triangle\u2019\u2019 (developed with IDCA): three geographically distinct but interconnected hubs designed to host AI data centres and cloud infrastructure, supported by clear policy frameworks, standards, incentives, and an emphasis on green AI. Oman also positioned itself on key operator fundamentals \u2013 strong potential for renewable power (solar and wind), rapid government execution, and a major connectivity advantage with 20+ international submarine cables already landing in-country and more planned \u2013 while the panel underscored that regional collaboration will be critical if the Middle East is to scale its contribution to the global digital economy\u2026Read more<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Interesting News<\/strong><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Cloud infrastructure spending hits $419Bn as GenAI accelerates growth<\/i><\/b><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Synergy Research Group reports that enterprise spending on cloud infrastructure services reached $419Bn in 2025, capped by a 30% YoY jump in Q4 2025 (vs Q4 2024) and an estimated $119.1Bn in Q4 revenue alone. Synergy says that GenAI is the clear driver behind the market\u2019s re-acceleration, with Q4 also up $12Bn on the prior quarter and marking the ninth straight quarter of faster YoY \u2013 the strongest pace in more that three years. AWS remains the largest provider, while Microsoft and Google continue to grow faster; Q4 market shares were 28% (AWS), 21% (Microsoft), and 14% (Google), and the top three control 68% of the public cloud market. \u2018\u2019Tier two\u2019\u2019 and AI-focused challengers are also gaining momentum – Synergy highlights CoreWeave, OpenAI, Oracle, Crusoe, and Nebius, with CoreWeave rising rapidly to the stop ten and generating over $1.5Bn in quarterly revenue \u2013 and growth is broad-based globally, with standout markets including Australia, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Mexico, South Africa, and Taiwan, while the US remains the largest market growing 30% in Q4\u2026Read more<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>","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 UAE Government launches AI efficiency pilot across Khazna data centers The UAE Ministry of<\/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-4081","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\/4081","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=4081"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/gulfdca.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4081\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4084,"href":"https:\/\/gulfdca.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4081\/revisions\/4084"}],"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=4081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gulfdca.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gulfdca.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}