Dubai’s du announces $540M hyperscale data center deal with Microsoft
The hyperscale data center will have Microsoft as the main tenant and its capacity will be delivered in tranches.
The Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company PJSC (du) has announced a 2 billion dirhams (about USD 540 million) hyperscale data center deal with Microsoft.
The hyperscale data center will have Microsoft as the main tenant and its capacity will be delivered in tranches, du said.
“This represents a pivotal leap in our strategic goal to revolutionise the digital ecosystem of the UAE and significant milestone in our strategy and efforts to growing beyond our core enterprise offerings,” said du CEO Fahad Al Hassawi. “Exceeding traditional infrastructure boundaries, the data centre will be established as a critical infrastructure that will underpin a wide array of future technologies, it reflects the immense potential of this sector in our region, driven by surging demand for AI capabilities, sovereign cloud, and increased capacity needs.”
Currently, du operates five data centers across the UAE, which is seeking to become a regional global hub for AI.
UAE’s National Strategy for AI 2031 aims to generate USD 96 billion in economic value by 2030, and hyperscale data centres will form the backbone of the country’s AI ecosystem.
Meanwhile, OpenAI is also planning to help develop one of the world’s largest data centers in the UAE. The ChatGPT maker is expected to be one of the primary anchor tenants for a recently announced 5-gigawatt data center campus in Abu Dhabi, according to a Bloomberg report. Oracle is also involved in this Abu Dhabi project, which on completion could spread across 10 square miles, the Bloomberg report said.
