Is the Middle East’s $20B AI Bet a Signal of Sovereign Compute Power?
From trillion-watt grid demand in Italy to a $4B AI infra surge in the U.S., this week’s stories reveal how land, capital, and national strategy are redrawing the map.
Welcome to Global Data Center Hub. Join 1000+ investors, operators, and innovators reading to stay ahead of the latest trends in the data center sector in developed and emerging markets globally.
Hi, it’s Obi.
This week’s stories span from sovereign-backed megaprojects in the Gulf to grid-induced gold rushes in Southern Europe, and from capital-backed greenfield builds in Brazil to pension-fueled campus plays in Northern England. The common thread: countries, capital, and compute are converging. As AI eats infrastructure, those who control land and power, and can move fast through permitting, are setting the global pace.
Middle East | Trump and Abu Dhabi Back Massive AI Data Center Complex A new AI data center megaproject is being planned through a Trump–Abu Dhabi partnership. While light on technical specs, the signal is heavy: sovereign capital is no longer just allocating to hyperscale, it’s building it. In the race for AI dominance, Gulf states are blending diplomacy, energy, and infrastructure in ways that make sovereign-led campuses a credible alternative to traditional hyperscaler rollouts.
North America | CoreWeave Inks $4B Deal with OpenAI
The OpenAI-CoreWeave partnership scales up again with a new $4 billion agreement. This is one of the most aggressive AI infrastructure deployment plays in the U.S., reinforcing CoreWeave’s role as a high-performance compute (HPC) enabler. For OpenAI, the deal signals a sustained CapEx strategy and a preference for working with nontraditional infrastructure partners who can move with hyperspeed and flexibility. This may set a new precedent for AI-native infrastructure relationships that sidestep conventional cloud contracts.
Europe | Italy’s Grid Under Pressure as Data Center Power Requests Hit 42GW Italy’s power authority has received requests for 42GW of data center load, a staggering jump that reveals the scale of latent demand across Southern Europe. For context, that’s roughly equivalent to half of Germany’s entire installed power generation. The gold rush in Milan, Rome, and beyond suggests Italy could leapfrog into a top-tier cloud region, but only if grid investment and permitting capacity keep pace.
South America | Scala Data Centers Secures 5GW Approval for Brazil’s AI City Scala’s long-anticipated “AI City” campus in Brazil just received Ministry of Energy approval for 5GW of ramp-up capacity, a national milestone. Backed by sustainable energy and sovereign grid integration, this project reinforces Brazil’s position as Latin America’s best-positioned hyperscale market. It also gives investors a glimpse into what fast-tracked approvals and policy alignment can unlock in emerging markets.
Asia-Pacific | GIP–BlackRock, Local Partners Target $3–5B Thailand AI Buildout A new joint initiative between GIP–BlackRock and Thai stakeholders could unlock up to $5B in hyperscale data centers across Thailand. That’s a regional pivot: while Singapore remains the capital magnet, Thailand is rapidly gaining favor as a lower-cost, faster-to-build AI compute hub, especially for operators seeking scale, renewable alignment, and proximity to undersea cable landing points.
Europe | USS Backs Blackstone’s Data Center Megaproject in Blyth, UK Blackstone has secured backing from pension giant USS for its £800M data center development in Blyth, Northumberland. It’s a nod to a growing thesis among institutional investors: secondary UK markets with strong grid access and port connectivity offer better long-term upside than congested Southern England zones. With USS onboard, hyperscale infrastructure is now a bona fide core asset class for pensions.
Middle East | Oracle Commits $14B to Saudi Arabia’s Digital Infrastructure Oracle’s pledge to invest $14B in Saudi Arabia over the next decade (including cloud and AI infrastructure) places the Kingdom firmly in the AI big leagues. Paired with DataVolt’s $20B push and OpenAI’s site considerations, this raises the stakes for anyone overlooking the Middle East. With sovereign demand, AMD-based hardware, and strategic vision, Saudi Arabia is signaling it intends to be a global compute superpower.
Podcast | Energy Gang — Can We Add Dozens of Giant New Data Centers to the Grid?
Why it matters: This episode explores new research by Duke University’s Tyler Norris showing how the U.S. grid could support an additional 98GW of load, if data centers adopt flexible demand models. That could change everything. With only ~42 hours of load curtailment required annually, this strategy may unlock billions in AI capacity without waiting on new transmission.
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Have a great rest of your weekend.
Talk to you tomorrow,
Obi