UAE Poised to Become Global Intelligence Exporter, Shifting Focus from Energy, Says G42 CEO

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has a significant opportunity to redefine its global role, transitioning from an energy exporter to a leading exporter of intelligence, according to Peng Xiao, the group chief executive of Abu Dhabi's technology conglomerate G42. He explained that the UAE's substantial energy resources can be leveraged to power advanced computing infrastructure, enabling the provision of AI services on a global scale.

Speaking at the Dubai AI Festival on Monday, Mr. Xiao articulated this vision: “I think our ambition is to go from an energy exporter to become an intelligence exporter.” He highlighted the UAE's advantages, including access to reliable energy and its rapid deployment of computing infrastructure, which position it to meet the burgeoning international demand for AI services.

G42 is actively investing in this future, developing a five-gigawatt AI campus in Abu Dhabi. This includes the ambitious one-gigawatt Stargate UAE project, a collaboration with prominent partners such as OpenAI, Oracle, Nvidia, Cisco, and SoftBank. “Many of our American partners are actually coming to our region, coming to our country to get access to compute capacity, because we are able to deliver now,” Mr. Xiao noted, underscoring the immediate demand and the UAE's capability to meet it.

The strategic location and connectivity of the UAE could extend the reach of its planned AI infrastructure to an estimated four billion potential users worldwide. Mr. Xiao also shared profound insights into the evolving relationship between humans and AI, suggesting that humanity should re-evaluate its core values. As AI increasingly surpasses human capabilities in thinking and tool use, he proposed that society should place greater emphasis on uniquely human attributes like connection and creativity.

“AI can already out-think us,” he stated, adding,