Six people familiar with the matter said the UAE is quietly reworking a 5 GW AI
data center project — one of the largest outside the US — after the Iran war
erupted. Four sources said the original plan for a single 10 sq mile (26 sq km)
campus in Abu Dhabi is likely to be replaced by a dispersed network of multiple
data centers across the UAE. Sources added UAE planners are considering
hardening measures against drone and missile strikes, including deployment of
air-defence systems and sitting some facilities underground.
