UAE’s du and Microsoft to build $544m hyperscale data centre

UAE telecom provider du and tech company Microsoft are to build a AED2 billion ($544.54 million) hyperscale data centre.

The data centre will be built in stages, gradually increasing capacity to satisfy rising demand, the UAE state-run news agency Wam reported on Tuesday.

The facility’s computing capabilities will be utilised by Microsoft, the main tenant, to support its cloud infrastructure and next-generation digital services.

The announcement was made during Dubai crown prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s visit to Dubai AI Week 2025, organised by the Dubai Centre for Artificial Intelligence, a project of the Dubai Future Foundation.

“The centre will play a vital role in addressing the surging demand for AI capabilities and sovereign cloud solutions, as well as a demand for increased digital capacity across the region,” Wam said.

The announcement of du’s new hyperscale data centre project is in line with the objectives of the Dubai Universal Blueprint for Artificial Intelligence, announced last year by Sheikh Hamdan. 

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The plan focuses on developing national talent, integrating AI in the government sector, and expanding data centre infrastructure in Dubai.

Data centre projects in the UAE are struggling to secure financing in their early stages despite an urgent need for more facilities to meet soaring demand, AGBI reported last year

The UAE, which hosts the largest concentration of data centres in the Middle East and North Africa, is already grappling with a capacity crunch, driven by surging demand from sectors such as artificial intelligence.

Data centres are critical for AI because they provide the massive computational power and data storage required.