Nvidia partners w/ Qatar’s Ooredoo for AI Middle East expansion

Nvidia has signed a deal to deploy its AI technology at data centers owned by Qatari telecoms group Ooredoo in five Middle Eastern countries, Ooredoo’s CEO told Reuters. This marks Nvidia’s first large-scale launch in a region where Washington has limited the export of advanced US chips to prevent Chinese firms from accessing the latest AI technology through the Middle East.

Ooredoo will be the first in the region to offer clients in Qatar, Algeria, Tunisia, Oman, Kuwait, and the Maldives direct access to Nvidia’s AI and graphics processing technology, Ooredoo said. This will enhance Ooredoo’s ability to help customers deploy generative AI applications, according to 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,” Ooredoo’s CEO Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo told Reuters.

The deal’s value was not disclosed, nor the specific Nvidia technology to be installed, as it depends on availability and demand.

While some Nvidia technology exports are allowed to the Middle East, the most advanced chips are restricted. Ooredoo is investing $1 billion to boost its data center capacity by 20-25 megawatts, aiming to nearly triple it by the decade’s end, Fakhroo said. The company has also separated its data centers into a new entity and plans to do the same with its undersea cables and fiber network.

Attribution: Reuters.