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Under the terms of the agreement, Cisco will power, connect, and secure a large-scale AI cluster operated by G42
In sum – what to know:
Expanded AI cooperation – Cisco and G42 will jointly build secure AI infrastructure aligned with the US–UAE AI Acceleration Partnership and digital transformation goals.
AMD-powered AI cluster deployment – The large-scale system features AMD MI350X GPUs and Cisco’s full-stack infrastructure for high-performance AI workloads.
Compliance and sovereignty – The project operates under G42’s Regulated Technology Environment (RTE) to ensure transparency, protection, and alignment with U.S. standards.
Cisco and UAE-based artificial intelligence (AI) firm G42 announced an expansion of their collaboration to advance secure AI infrastructure across the United Arab Emirates.
Under the terms of the agreement, Cisco will power, connect, and secure a large-scale AI cluster operated by G42, featuring AMD’s MI350X GPUs. The deployment will integrate Cisco’s full-stack infrastructure — spanning compute, networking, security, storage, optics, and observability tools — to deliver scalable performance and unified management for the region’s most advanced AI workloads.
The deal also stipulates that Cisco will also serve as technology integrator within G42’s Regulated Technology Environment (RTE), a compliance and security framework ensuring that advanced compute infrastructure meets the highest standards for protection, transparency, and governance. The framework prevents unauthorized access, transfer, or misuse of sensitive computing systems.
This expanded partnership builds on ongoing work under the U.S.–UAE AI Acceleration Partnership, which includes flagship projects such as the 1GW Stargate UAE AI cluster under construction in Abu Dhabi and the planned 5GW UAE–U.S. AI technology campus, announced during President Trump’s visit to the UAE in May 2025.
Peng Xiao, Group CEO of G42 said that this new agreement with Cisco “reinforces our shared commitment to building secure and sovereign AI infrastructure that drives innovation while maintaining strong governance standards.”
According to Cisco’s latest AI study, 92% of organizations in the UAE plan to deploy AI agents, yet only 25% currently have sufficient GPU capacity.
The deployment will leverage Cisco UCS 885A servers with AMD GPUs, Nexus 9K 800G switches, Firepower 4200 firewalls, Nexus Dashboard, and Intersight for automation and management, alongside Cisco’s optical and advanced services portfolio. The companies also said they will work closely with U.S. regulatory agencies to obtain necessary licenses and clearances in the coming months.
Earlier this month, G42 announced major progress on the construction of Stargate UAE, an AI infrastructure cluster being developed by Khazna Data Centers, a G42 company, within the UAE–U.S. AI Campus in Abu Dhabi.
Announced in May by G42, OpenAI, Oracle, Nvidia, Cisco, and SoftBank, Stargate UAE has moved rapidly from design to construction as the team is building the first 200MW of the 1GW mega-scale infrastructure on an accelerated timeline. A G42 spokesperson confirmed that construction is now well underway and progressing steadily toward the planned 2026 delivery.
