Generative AI company OpenAI is debating whether to build a data center in the United Arab Emirates.

Bloomberg and The Information report that the deal is in its final stages and could be announced this week as part of US President Donald Trump's Middle East tour. He is expected in the UAE on Thursday.

Details are still being discussed, but the project could be part of the SoftBank-backed Stargate initiative.

With $500 billion set to be spent on the joint venture in the US, OpenAI this month said that it was looking to partner with up to ten countries to build Stargates around the world.

Those countries would themselves be expected to invest in the infrastructure effort. This week, the Trump administration also scrapped Biden-era rules that would have limited the export of high-end AI chips, including GPUs.

The UAE is already invested in OpenAI, with the state-owned MGX having pumped money both into OpenAI and Stargate. MGX chairman Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan (the son of the founder of the UAE) is also chair of G42, which OpenAI partnered with back in 2023.

Meanwhile, OpenAI backer Microsoft last year invested $1.5 billion in G42.