Saudi Arabia and UAE buy thousands of processors worth $40,000 each for AI development

In mid-August 2023, it became known that Saudi Arabia UAE they were buying thousands of high-performance chips Nvidia for development based on software. artificial intelligence

According to the Financial Times, Saudi Arabia, through the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, has placed an order for at least 3,000 Nvidia H100 accelerators designed specifically for generative AI. The cost of each such device is approximately $40 thousand. Thus, the total order amount reaches $120 million.

Saudi Arabia, UAE buy thousands of Nvidia chips

At the same time, as noted, the UAE also ordered "thousands of Nvidia accelerators," but what kind of products are in question is not specified. The state-run Institute for Technological Innovation in Masdar City (Abu Dhabi) has already developed its own large language model called Falcon.

The UAE decided that they want to have their own computing power and highly qualified personnel, control them and not depend on the Chinese or Americans. It is important that they have the capital and the necessary energy resources for this, - said knowledgeable persons.

The Gulf countries' purchase of a large number of Nvidia boosters through government groups comes as the world's top tech companies seek to purchase these scarce products to develop AI systems. The company will ship about 550,000 of its newest H100 accelerators worldwide in 2023, according to several sources close to Nvidia and its contract maker TSMC. At the same time, the bulk of the products will be purchased by American operators of cloud platforms and large data centers, expanding the range of AI services provided in accordance with the growing needs of customers.^[1]

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