The Arabian Peninsula has turned in a few years in a must for global technological infrastructure. Long perceived as a simple capital reservoir, the Gulf now traces a broader ambition and become a Calculation and innovation hub in artificial intelligenceat the crossroads of industrial, diplomatic and energy logics. The trajectory initiated by the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia draws the contours of a new global strategic pole, no longer just an oil exporter, but importer of calculation power.
A geography favorable to the expansion of datacenters
The Gulf promise is primarily anchored in a physical reality, that of energy abundance, land availability and a cost of capital lower than Western standards. Three conditions today decisive to host IA infrastructure on a large scale.
Saudi Arabia has announced a massive development program of 1 GW of power via human, a newly created entity. G42, in the Emirates, accelerates for its part the construction of a Datacenter campus of 5 GW, the first slice of 1 GW is already started. By way of comparison, the current total capacity of the Paris region for datacenters is estimated around 700 MW. The scale tilting is clear.
An active reorientation of sovereign capital
Investments are no longer limited to passive participations in Western funds. The sovereign funds of the Gulf (Adq, Mubadala, Pif) Now deploy their resources directly to IA infrastructure, to the Emirates as in the United States. DataVolt, the main co -hole player in Saudi Arabia, plans $ 20 billion in investments in American data centers. G42 has already opened campuses in the United States and extends its network in Europe.
This reverse movement the usual logic thus instead that the American startups or hyperscalers operate alone on foreign territories, Gulf capitals invest and co-deploy with American leadersconsolidating a shared infrastructure model.
Diplomatic alignment with American standards
This tilting is carried out in a singular regulatory environment, establishing partnerships with the United States imply an almost complete adoption of American technological standards. GPUs are provided by NVIDIA, Clouds are operated by Microsoft or AWS, security systems align with the practices recommended by American agencies.
This strengthens strategic interdependencies, so by locking the Gulf supply of IA hardware and software, Washington warns any Chinese position in these markets. In return, the Gulf countries obtain privileged access to critical bricks of the world IA value chain.
A maturity still uneven in terms of innovation
If the computing capacities and investments are very real, The local R&D ecosystem remains in the constitution phase. The dominant model remains that of accommodation or co-development, more than that of endogenous creation of models or Deeptech startups with high scientific density.
Emerging initiatives, research centers, IA incubators, elite training, but do not yet have abundance specific to ecosystems such as Silicon Valley, Paris or London. The dependence on Western expertise remains strong, especially in high layers (frameworks, algorithms, fine-tuning teams).
A Silicon Valley of the calculation, not yet innovation?
At this point, the Gulf seems to be less engaged in a race for scientific rupture than in a logic ofAccelerated industrialization of AI. Its positioning recalls that of large logistics platforms, namely, assembling, distributing, operating, but necessarily designing from start to finish. The bet is Become the power plant of the world AIwhile waiting for the local ecosystem to, perhaps produce its own giants.
A new epicenter, but not a Silicon Valley Bis
The Gulf ticks the infrastructure boxes with funding, energy, an extremely rapid execution. It attracts Western partners, secures critical resources, and is part of a favorable diplomatic dynamic. But Silicon Valley is not only defined by its data centers, it is based on a dense fabric of scientific actors, entrepreneurs, investors, expertise communities. On this ground, the Gulf is advancing, but starts further, it takes time in time.
It is therefore fairer, for the moment, to talk about the Gulf as strategic ia hub than as a nerve center of innovation. A territory of increasing influence, but whose nature of the power remains mainly infrastructure and geoeconomic.
