Nvidia has entered into an agreement to deploy its artificial intelligence technology at data centers owned by Qatari telecom giant Ooredoo across five Middle Eastern countries, according to Ooredoo’s CEO Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo. This deal signifies Nvidia’s first major initiative in a region where the U.S. has restricted the export of advanced AI chips to prevent their use by Chinese firms through Middle Eastern intermediaries.
The agreement will make Ooredoo the first company in the region to provide direct access to Nvidia’s AI and graphics processing technology to its data center clients in Qatar, Algeria, Tunisia, Oman, Kuwait, and the Maldives. This will enhance Ooredoo’s ability to support customers in deploying generative AI applications, as noted by Nvidia’s Senior Vice President of Telecom, Ronnie Vasishta.
“Our B2B clients, thanks to this agreement, will have access to services that probably their competitors won’t for another 18 to 24 months,” Fakhroo stated in an interview with Reuters.
The financial terms of the deal, signed during the TM Forum in Copenhagen on June 19, were not disclosed. Ooredoo also did not specify which types of Nvidia technology will be installed, indicating that it would depend on availability and customer demand.
While Washington permits the export of certain Nvidia technologies to the Middle East, it restricts the sale of the company’s most advanced chips. Despite these limitations, Ooredoo is investing $1 billion to increase its regional data center capacity by 20-25 megawatts, adding to its existing 40 megawatts, with plans to nearly triple this capacity by the end of the decade.
Ooredoo has restructured its data centers into a separate entity, following a similar strategy last year when it collaborated with Kuwait’s Zain and Dubai’s TASC Towers Holding to create the Middle East’s largest tower company. Additionally, Ooredoo has plans to separate its undersea cables and fiber network into a distinct entity, according to Fakhroo.
This strategic move underscores the growing importance of AI technology in the Middle East and highlights Nvidia’s expanding footprint in the region amid geopolitical challenges.
