US-based AI giant Nvidia has partnered with Ooredoo,
Qatar’s telecom giant, to implement artificial intelligence technologies
across its data centers in Qatar, Algeria, Tunisia, Oman, Kuwait, and the Maldives,
Reuters reported. This new development comes against US restrictions on AI
exports to the Middle East.
Defying US Curbs on AI Exports
Nvidia has embarked on this collaboration with Ooredoo
amid heightened US controls on the export of AI technology to prevent China’s access through the Middle East. This partnership enables Ooredoo to directly integrate
Nvidia’s AI and graphics processing capabilities into its regional data
centers.
The agreement signifies Nvidia’s entry into the Middle Eastern market and highlights Ooredoo’s efforts to enhance its data center capabilities. According to Ooredoo’s CEO, Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo, the
partnership grants the firm exclusive access to Nvidia‘s technologies ahead of
competitors.
While the financial details of the agreement remain
undisclosed, the scope reportedly involves substantial investments by Ooredoo
to initially expand its data center capacity by 20-25 megawatts, with plans to
triple this capacity by the end of the decade. This expansion will enable
Ooredoo to strengthen its infrastructure in collaboration with regional
partners.
Surging Adoption of AI
Nvidia has seen an increase in the uptake of its AI
services in the recent past. Towards the end of last year, an AI
cloud-computing organization funded by cryptocurrency billionaire Jed McCaleb
invested approximately $500 million in Nvidia’s advanced chips. The company
mentioned that this investment aims to enhance AI computing by addressing the
shortage of AI chips.
Voltage Park’s CEO, Eric Park, told Reuters that the
company had secured 24,000 Nvidia H100 chips designed to cater to the demands
of large AI models used for various applications, including text generation,
coding, image processing, video analysis, and audio synthesis. The firm aims to
lease computing capacity to businesses engaged in AI projects.
Recently, Nvidia surpassed Wall Street expectations in
its quarterly performance, highlighting its dominance in the semiconductor
space. Nvidia reported $26 billion in the first-quarter revenue for fiscal year
2025, a substantial 262% increase from the same period last year. Similarly,
the firm posted $22 billion in the previous quarter’s revenue, up nearly 270% year over year.
This article was written by Jared Kirui at www.financemagnates.com.
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