Once upon a time, computing power was a matter of measuring floating point operations per second (FLOPS), a tidy numerical gauge of silicon might.
Today, we’ve shifted scales entirely, quantifying computational prowess in megawatts and gigawatts, recognizing that true capability isn’t just processing speed, but how effectively we marshal raw electrical power into computational outcomes.
This shift in metrics is at the heart of what we’re observing in the announcement of the Stargate system coming to the UAE, which was announced late last week.
Imagine a datacenter sprawling across 10 square miles of scorching desert, an unprecedented convergence of human ingenuity and raw computational power. This is Stargate UAE, where silicon meets sand, and ambition is measured in gigawatts.
At full throttle, Stargate will consume five gigawatts of electricity, the equivalent of the output of five nuclear reactors operating simultaneously.
This represents a radical departure from conventional datacenter design, pushing technological and infrastructural boundaries far beyond what we've previously envisioned.
The Stargate story isn't merely one of technological innovation; it’s a complex tapestry woven from geopolitics, strategic partnerships, and a new era of global tech dominance.
In May 2025, an alliance emerged from the boardrooms of Silicon Valley and the governmental corridors of Abu Dhabi, bringing together G42, the UAE’s tech giant, and powerhouse names such as OpenAI, Nvidia, Oracle, Cisco, and SoftBank.
The shared goal was to create the largest AI computing infrastructure outside of the United States, dwarfing even Microsoft's ambitious Texas Stargate facility, which peaks at a comparatively “modest” 1.2 GW.
Yet Stargate’s initial rollout, targeting 200 megawatts by 2026, already defies ordinary comprehension, matching the power usage of medium-sized cities.
This initial phase alone incorporates tens of thousands of Nvidia’s top-shelf Blackwell GB300 GPUs, each consuming approximately 1,000 watts. Organized in ultra-high-density racks, some pulling over 120 kW, means traditional air-cooling methods crumble, necessitating advanced direct-to-chip liquid cooling approaches.
The infrastructure required to feed Stargate’s voracious appetite is equally staggering.
Connecting a facility of this magnitude directly to an existing grid isn’t an option, it demands a bespoke, strategic energy solution meticulously calibrated like a precision instrument.
Central to this strategy is nuclear energy. The Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant, a 5.6 GW facility comprising four reactors, already supplies about a quarter of the UAE’s total electricity, providing a clean, reliable, carbon-free power baseline essential for Stargate’s stable operation.
This nuclear backbone offers not just stability but insulation from volatile fuel markets, marking the collective’s commitment to sustainability.
Yet nuclear power alone can’t meet every demand. Thus, the UAE harnesses its most abundant natural resource—the relentless desert sun. The Al Dhafra Solar Project, covering 21 square km with over four million photovoltaic panels, generates up to 2 GW of renewable electricity during peak daylight hours.
Engineers strategically synchronize Stargate’s most demanding workloads with solar availability, creating a symbiotic computational rhythm that maximizes energy efficiency and environmental sustainability.
Even this sophisticated interplay has its limits, particularly when darkness or cloud cover interrupt solar production.
Enter the UAE’s extensive natural gas infrastructure, providing indispensable flexibility and redundancy. Natural gas serves as the agile counterpart to nuclear and solar, ensuring uninterrupted operation during any dips in renewable energy availability.
Stargate’s power strategy is deliberate orchestration: nuclear for stability, solar for sustainability, gas for flexibility. It’s a pragmatic, finely tuned symphony engineered to keep the computational heart beating–no matter what.
Cooling at Stargate isn't just a logistical detail, it’s an extraordinary engineering challenge.
With traditional air-cooling methods faltering beyond densities of 20 kW per rack, Stargate pushes these limits sixfold. Engineers have embraced direct liquid cooling technology, delivering a reported 300-fold efficiency improvement over air cooling methods.
Fluid coolant loops whisk heat away from chips directly into vast external radiators and cooling towers, executing a complex dance of fluid dynamics and thermodynamics at unprecedented scales.
Stargate positions the UAE at the forefront of global AI infrastructure, challenging traditional technological dominance and signaling the rise of new sovereign centers of computational power.
Here, amid shifting sands and searing heat, Stargate UAE rises, not merely as another datacenter or cloud, but as a planetary-scale computational engine powered by nuclear fission, solar fusion, and strategic natural gas deployment.
Stargate UAE is more than just massive infrastructure, it's a strategic recalibration of what global AI leadership looks like.
By seamlessly weaving nuclear baseload, solar intensity, and natural gas responsiveness into a meticulously engineered power fabric, and coupling that with next-generation liquid cooling and ultra-dense computational designs, the UAE is staking its claim as a sovereign epicenter of AI capability.