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Microsoft and G42 to Add 200 MW of Data Center Capacity in $15 Billion UAE Investment Push

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Microsoft and Abu Dhabi’s G42 announced plans on Wednesday to expand data center capacity in the United Arab Emirates by 200 megawatts, marking a major milestone in the U.S. tech giant’s $15 billion investment drive across the Gulf region.

The new capacity will be delivered through Khazna Data Centers, a G42 subsidiary, and is expected to begin operations before the end of next year, the companies said in a joint statement. The project forms part of a sweeping effort to transform the UAE into a global hub for artificial intelligence and cloud computing.

Microsoft said its total investment in the UAE will reach $7.3 billion between 2023 and the end of 2025, with another $7.9 billion planned for 2026 through 2029. The expansion underscores the deepening ties between the company and G42, following Microsoft’s $1.5 billion investment last year for a minority stake in the Abu Dhabi-based AI and cloud firm.

G42, backed by Mubadala, Silver Lake, and billionaire Ray Dalio’s family office, has emerged as one of the Middle East’s leading AI players. The UAE government has been channeling billions into the sector to boost economic diversification and technological self-reliance.

The companies also confirmed that the Trump administration has approved exports of Nvidia’s advanced chips for data centers in the Gulf country — a key step in enabling large-scale AI model training and cloud services.

“The expansion strengthens Microsoft Azure’s secure, scalable, and sovereign cloud infrastructure in the UAE,” the firms said.

Meta Partners with PIMCO and Blue Owl for $29 Billion Data Center Expansion in Louisiana

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Meta (META.O) has enlisted U.S. bond giant PIMCO and alternative asset manager Blue Owl Capital (OWL.N) to lead a $29 billion financing effort for its data center expansion project in rural Louisiana, according to a source familiar with the matter. PIMCO is expected to manage approximately $26 billion in debt financing, likely issued through bonds, while Blue Owl will contribute around $3 billion in equity.

Bloomberg News earlier reported that Meta had been working with Morgan Stanley (MS.N) on raising funds, with Apollo Global Management (APO.N) and KKR (KKR.N) also in contention to lead the financing until the final stages of negotiations. Meta, PIMCO, and Blue Owl declined to comment on the details.

This financing move supports Meta’s broader push to build AI infrastructure. Recently, the company disclosed plans to divest about $2 billion in data center assets as part of a co-development strategy to share construction costs for generative AI facilities. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced intentions to invest hundreds of billions into AI data centers, including the upcoming Prometheus and Hyperion centers—expected to come online in 2026 and scale to 5 gigawatts respectively.

The initiative underscores Meta’s aggressive investment in AI technology amid an ongoing talent war for engineers and competition in the AI sector.

Crusoe Secures $11.6 Billion to Expand Texas AI Data Center, Supporting OpenAI Infrastructure

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AI infrastructure startup Crusoe has raised an additional $11.6 billion to significantly expand its upcoming data center in Abilene, Texas, marking one of the largest funding rounds in the emerging “neocloud” space. The new capital brings the total raised for the project to $15 billion and will allow Crusoe to expand the facility from two to eight buildings, the company confirmed on Wednesday.

Founded in 2018 as a crypto-focused firm, Crusoe has since pivoted to become a specialized cloud provider for AI workloads, part of a new wave of “neoclouds” that offer tailored infrastructure beyond the traditional giants like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud.

Crusoe has been contracted by Oracle to construct the first data center for Stargate — a major AI infrastructure initiative backed by OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle, with a planned $500 billion investment in global AI infrastructure. According to The Wall Street Journal, the Abilene facility is set to become OpenAI’s largest data center.

“Our customer is Oracle. OpenAI is Oracle’s customer,” Crusoe clarified in a statement, emphasizing its indirect yet vital role in supporting the ChatGPT creator’s infrastructure needs.

The project is seen as part of OpenAI’s long-term goal to reduce reliance on Microsoft, its current primary cloud provider.

Key Details:

  • Location: Abilene, Texas

  • Total Buildings: 8 (up from 2)

  • AI Chips: Each building will house up to 50,000 Nvidia Blackwell systems

  • Sponsors: Crusoe, Blue Owl’s Real Assets platform, and Primary Digital Infrastructure

The facility will support intensive generative AI workloads, crucial for OpenAI’s future model development and deployment.

The explosive growth in demand for AI compute capacity has fueled an investment boom in data centers powered by specialized chips like Nvidia’s Blackwell series — a market Crusoe is aggressively entering.

Neither OpenAI nor Nvidia responded to requests for comment at the time of publication.