South Korea deepens AI ties through UAE’s Stargate campus

South Korea and the United Arab Emirates have signed a strategic framework to collaborate on the UAE’s Stargate AI data campus. The move extends South Korea’s role beyond chip supply into infrastructure and AI partnerships.

What We Know

— South Korea has formally agreed to participate in the UAE’s Stargate AI project, a major artificial intelligence data centre initiative supported by U.S. and global tech firms, according to Reuters reports dated November 18, 2025. The agreement was reached during President Lee Jae Myung’s summit in the UAE. The pact includes cooperation on AI investment, infrastructure, supply chains and R&D. South Korean companies such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have already signed preliminary deals to supply memory chips for the initiative.

— Stargate UAE is part of a U.S.–UAE AI campus project being developed by UAE firm G42 in partnership with companies including OpenAI, Oracle, Nvidia, Cisco and SoftBank. The campus aims to host up to 5 gigawatts of AI compute capacity over 10 square miles, with an initial 1 GW cluster and a 200 MW first phase expected to launch in 2026.

— As part of broader cooperation, South Korea and the UAE signed several memorandums of understanding (MOUs) covering nuclear tech, space, biohealth, intellectual property and comprehensive economic ties, with Seoul estimating combined economic benefits of around $35 billion from AI and defense agreements.

What It Means

This agreement positions South Korea as a deeper partner in the Stargate AI initiative, building on its strength in semiconductors and energy to contribute to infrastructure and technological ecosystems. It underscores Seoul’s ambition to play a central role in global AI deployment and strategic technology markets.

For the UAE, bringing South Korea into the project strengthens its AI ecosystem and secures reliable chip and infrastructure support. It also diversifies international partnerships, reinforcing the UAEs strategy to boost AI-led economic transformation.

The internship of projects across nuclear, space and biohealth alongside AI reflects a strategic pivot toward integrated high-tech cooperation—blending defense, energy and advanced innovation to future-proof bilateral ties.

The Backstory

Announced in May 2025, Stargate UAE marks the first international expansion of OpenAI’s Stargate infrastructure program. The project is part of a U.S.–UAE AI Acceleration Partnership and envisions nation-scale AI capacity anchored by a 1 GW compute cluster launched by 2026. U.S. export restrictions on AI chips to the UAE had previously complicated deployment but were lifted under the agreement.

What’s Next

The first 200 MW phase of Stargate UAE is scheduled to go live in 2026, with construction advancing rapidly under G42's Khazna Data Centres. Detailed cooperation between South Korea and the UAE is expected to unfold across infrastructure development, energy integration and R&D over coming years.