Sam Altman isn’t going to Abu Dhabi. The OpenAI CEO scrapped a planned trip to the UAE capital where he was set to meet with regional companies, a cancellation that lands at perhaps the worst possible time for the company’s sprawling infrastructure ambitions in the Middle East.
OpenAI isn’t just building chatbots. It’s trying to build an entire constellation of data centers under the Stargate project, and the UAE is central to that vision. The company has been seeking somewhere in the range of $40B to $50B from UAE investments to fund the initiative.
A complicated history in the region
Altman has visited Abu Dhabi multiple times, including trips in 2023 and 2025, each focused on deepening OpenAI’s collaborations with regional partners.
Those partnerships have produced real results. An OpenAI-led consortium received approval for one of the largest AI data centers in Abu Dhabi. Key players in the relationship include MGX and G42, two UAE-linked firms that have been critical to executing OpenAI’s plans in the region.
