KKR is investing in one of the region’s biggest data center firms, the latest deal demonstrating the Gulf’s draw as a global digital infrastructure hub.
Financial details weren’t disclosed: The US asset manager and its partner Gulf Data Hub said they were committed to investing more than $5 billion to expand data center capacity. GDH operates seven facilities in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and plans to expand to Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, and Qatar.
With ample energy, capital, and land, the Gulf is becoming a hub in the race to develop the world’s most advanced AI models.
In April, Microsoft made a $1.5 billion investment in Abu Dhabi’s G42, seeing the company as a conduit to expand its Azure data center business. Google Cloud and Saudi’s Public Investment Fund agreed in October to develop an AI hub in Dammam.
Investments are also flowing abroad: DAMAC plans to invest $20 billion in US data centers, while G42 has built up four times the computing capacity in the US compared to at home in the UAE.
