Qatari telecommunications provider Ooredoo told CNBC on Wednesday that its latest reference to NVIDIA complies with all US regulations while still providing access to the newest technology.
Ooredoo signed a partnership with NVIDIAThis marks the chipmaker's first large-scale entry into the Middle East market. The firms didn’t disclose the worth of the deal.
Under the deal, 1000’s of Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs) can be deployed in 26 data centers in Qatar and five other countries: Kuwait, Oman, Algeria, Tunisia and the Maldives. These chips will help the info centers process massive amounts of knowledge that may then flow into AI chatbots and other tools which can be essential components of a rustic's AI infrastructure.
The merger got here after the US last yr restricted the sale of certain sophisticated chips to some Middle Eastern countries over fears the technology may very well be intercepted by China.
Washington allows the export of some Nvidia chips to the region, and Nvidia, AMD And Intel have all indicated plans to develop less powerful chips for export to the Chinese market. The restrictions apply to A100 and H100 chips, not GPUs (one other style of semiconductor), that are the main target of this deal.
Ooredoo told CNBC that the deal complies with all US regulations and that no latest licenses for other chips were created as a part of the partnership.
“For us as a telecommunications operator, dealing with very strict regulations is quite normal. We are used to dealing with regulators and government agencies, whether local or international,” Ooredoo's CEO told CNBC.
“We are working very closely with the various regulators and with Nvidia to obtain all necessary approvals and provide all necessary guarantees,” he added.
A tug-of-war has broken out between China and the US within the race for the newest artificial intelligence technology, with the United Arab Emirates' leading AI group, G42, vowing to phase out Chinese hardware to appease Washington. He later made a take care of Microsoft value $1.5 billion.
The Gulf states are using their enormous energy wealth to turn out to be frontrunners in artificial intelligence, investing in developing the technology and importing huge quantities of chips utilized in AI data centers.
According to Ooredoo's CEO, the chips are the newest generation of GPUs specifically designed for artificial intelligence and can “enable extreme machine learning and model utilization of these AI models and generative AI.”
They are utilized in citizen services for governments and to extend productivity and efficiency for businesses and in research and development.
The cloud partnership The collaboration between Ooredoo and Nvidia is designed to position the chipmaker as a central source of AI technology within the region and can, in keeping with Ooredoo, drive innovation and development and create jobs. The countries will gain access to Nvidia's latest full-stack AI platform, which serves each Ooredoo and non-Ooredoo customers through independent data centers.
Before announcing the partnership with Nvidia, Ooredoo had already committed to investing $1 billion to extend its regional data center capability. Ooredoo CEO Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo told CNBC's Dan Murphy that he expects this investment to repay in the approaching years.
“The demand we're seeing from the cloud alone, and what we're now achieving by adding this layer of AI, is already exceeding our most optimistic plans. So we're likely to exceed that investment over the next three to five years.”
Ooredoo, backed by the Qatar Investment Authority and listed in each Qatar and Abu Dhabi, plans to develop an AI-driven platform powered by Nvidia in hopes of meeting market demand.
Nvidia briefly became the most dear company on this planet last week, overtaking MicrosoftThe chipmaker rebounded in trading on Tuesday, ending a three-day losing streak that saw its market value fall by greater than $550 billion.
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