Overview

• In late May, Musk privately urged President Trump’s AI adviser and other White House officials to halt the Abu Dhabi data center deal unless his xAI startup secured a role.
• The agreement unites OpenAI, Emirati AI company G42 and US firms Oracle, Nvidia, Cisco and SoftBank to build a sprawling AI computing hub in Abu Dhabi.
• The infrastructure is part of the UAE’s $500 billion Stargate initiative aimed at creating one of the world’s largest AI data centers.
• Despite Musk’s interventions, the White House reviewed and approved the deal without xAI’s participation, allowing construction to proceed.
• Observers have flagged potential national security concerns and warned the project could strengthen the Middle East as an AI industry rival to the United States.