Nvidia signs AI deal in Middle East, says Ooredoo CEO

Nvidia signs AI deal in Middle East, says Ooredoo CEO is profiled by BTW Media because public-source evidence links it to internet infrastructure, governance, operational dependencies, or market visibility.

• Nvidia has signed a deal to deploy its artificial intelligence technology at data centres owned by Qatari telecoms group Ooredoo in five Middle Eastern countries according to Ooredoo’s CEO Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo.
• Washington allows the export of some Nvidia technology to the Middle East, but curbs exports of the company’s most sophisticated chips.

OUR TAKE
Through NVIDIA’s AI technology, Ooredoo will not only be able to achieve efficient AI deployment in data centres in countries such as Qatar, but also drive the adoption and development of AI applications across the region. This means that businesses and institutions in Middle Eastern countries will be able to more easily leverage advanced generative AI applications to make their services more intelligent.
–Revel Cheng, BTW reporter

Nvidia has signed a deal to deploy its artificial intelligence technology at data centres owned by Qatari telecoms group Ooredoo in five Middle Eastern countries.

What happened

Nvidia has signed an agreement to deploy its AI technology in data centres owned by Qatar telecom group Ooredoo in five Middle Eastern countries, according to Ooredoo’s CEO Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo.

“Ooredoo is very proud to sign that agreement with Nvidia, putting Ooredoo at the forefront in the region for AI. And this falls right in our strategy of becoming the leader in the region for digital infrastructure.”

Ooredoo says the move will make it the first company in the region able to give clients of its data centres in Qatar, Algeria, Tunisia, Oman, Kuwait and the Maldives direct access to Nvidia’s AI and graphics processing technology.

Providing the technology will allow Ooredoo to better help its customers deploy generative AI applications, Nvidia’s senior vice president of telecom Ronnie Vasishta said.

The agreement marks Nvidia’s first large-scale launch in a region to which Washington has curbed the export of sophisticated U.S. chips to stop Chinese firms from using Middle Eastern countries as a backdoor to access the newest AI technology.

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Why it’s important

The companies did not disclose the value of the deal, which was signed on the sidelines of the TM Forum in Copenhagen on June 19.

Ooredoo also would not disclose exactly what type of Nvidia technology it will be installing in its data centres, saying that it depends on availability and customer demand.

Washington allows the export of some Nvidia technology to the Middle East, but curbs exports of the company’s most sophisticated chips.

Ooredoo is investing $1 billion to boost its regional data centre capacity by 20-25 additional megawatts on top of the 40 megawatts it currently has, and plans to almost triple that by the end of the decade, Fakhroo said.

The company has carved out its data centres into a separate company following a similar move last year to create the Middle East’s largest tower company in a deal with Kuwait’s Zain and Dubai’s TASC Towers Holding.