ooredoo's bold move to support nvidia ai chips
Doha, Wednesday, 11 December 2024.
Ooredoo, the Qatari telecom giant, is expanding its data centers to support Nvidia’s AI chips. This move is a significant step following a partnership signed earlier this year between the two companies. The expansion aims to address the growing demand for AI infrastructure in the region. Nvidia’s GPUs are set to be housed across 26 of Ooredoo’s data centers in Qatar and other locations in the Middle East. This marks Nvidia’s first AI deployment in the MENA region. Despite plans, Ooredoo has faced challenges in creating new data centers to meet increasing AI demands, having previously committed $1 billion to boost capacity. This expansion is part of a larger trend of significant investments in AI technology worldwide.
Strategic expansion across multiple markets
The GPUs will be distributed across Ooredoo’s network of 26 data centers spanning Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Tunisia, and the Maldives [1]. This expansion follows a key partnership agreement signed in July 2024 [1]. Ooredoo CEO Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo highlighted the competitive advantage, stating that B2B clients would gain access to services potentially unavailable to competitors for up to 24 months [1].
Investment and capacity challenges
Ooredoo has committed $1 billion to increase its data center capacity by more than 120MW [1]. Despite this substantial investment, the company has encountered difficulties in establishing new facilities to meet surging AI infrastructure demands [1]. The company recently secured $552 million in financing to accelerate its data center business growth [1].
Regional AI development initiatives
Ooredoo’s Indonesian division has already begun leveraging Nvidia’s technology, launching Sahabat-AI, a language model for Indonesian languages using Nvidia’s AI Enterprise platform [1]. This expansion comes amid significant regional growth in data center development, with the Saudi Arabian market alone expected to reach 854.8 MW by 2029 [2].
Market implications and regulatory context
The partnership marks Nvidia’s first AI deployment in the MENA region [1]. However, the expansion operates within complex regulatory constraints, as the Biden Administration has restricted exports of advanced Nvidia GPUs to certain Middle Eastern countries, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE [1]. These restrictions were implemented due to concerns over China’s growing influence in the region [1].