UAE’s Mubadala has MGX (i.e. G42) and Saudi Arabia’s PIF has HUMAIN. With two major Middle East economies getting ahead of the AI opportunity, Qatar wasn’t going to sit on the sidelines being a spectator. The country’s sovereign wealth fund (QIA) has officially launched their AI-focused subsidiary known as ‘Qai’.
Heading up this new venture is Abdulla Hamad Al Misnad, serving as the Chairman of Qai of this national AI company. With what I’ve read about, the new company looks to run with a model based on infrastructure-led with data jurisdictions while prioritizing sovereignty in compute power.
AI-focused priorities
Qai is positioned as a national artificial intelligence company for Qatar. The purpose is to build resilient digital ecosystems that enable innovation and accelerate sustainable development for the country. At the same time, it’ll also be looking to develop external capacities as well outside of its borders.
Qai significantly benefit from QIA’s global network and long-term investment approach. while working closely with research institutions, policymakers and Qatar’s wider innovation stakeholders.
Qai will develop, operate and invest in AI infrastructure and systems in Qatar and globally, delivering secure and trusted technologies across key sectors. It will also provide access to high-performance computing and a connected suite of tools to responsibly deploy scalable AI systems, driving innovation and business growth with confidence, clarity and control.
In parallel, it likely folds FANAR into the same branch (the Arabic LLM launched by Qatar last year) as recently received a 2.0 update unveiled at the World AI Summit in Doha.
Spreading beyond Qatar
Looking beyond Qatar, Qai is also partnering up with Brookfield that establishes a $20 billion joint venture. The JV focuses on AI infrastructure in Qatar and select international markets.
Both entities will contribute capital and operating expertise to invest in Qatar’s AI infrastructure. This includes the development of fully integrated AI facilities, supporting the country’s rapidly expanding digital and AI ecosystem.
All the details summarize it as a strategic partnership, seeing Brookfield’s Integrated Compute center expand regional access to high-performance compute and enable the deployment of trusted AI technologies across key sectors. Looking beyond Qatar, Brookfield and Qai will explore opportunities to co-develop and construct AI infrastructure in select international markets, which looks similar to OpenAI for Countries like Stargate UAE.
There’s also the newly-launched Brookfield Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Fund (“BAIIF”) that allows Brookfield and its partners to invest into this venture. The strategic partnership with Qai will form a cornerstone of Brookfield’s global AI infrastructure program, which aims to mobilize up to $100 billion of total investment globally.
Without even stating the obvious, this falls under the country’s working path towards their National Vision 2030.
Image Credit: GCO
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