Emirati billionaire Hussain Sajwani announced a plan to invest $20 billion in the rapidly expanding U.S. data center industry, a commitment revealed alongside U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday at Trump’s Palm Beach, Florida residence.
“We’re planning to invest $20 billion and even more than that, if the opportunity in the market allows us, in US data centers catering to AI and cloud businesses” said Sajwani, the chairman of Dubai-based DAMAC. The company also owns the Middle East’s only Trump-branded golf course in Dubai, which opened in 2017. Sajwani celebrated New Year’s with Trump in Florida.
Trump’s victory was largely influenced by economic concerns, prompting his focus on stimulating investments in domestic industries and proposing increased tariffs on Chinese goods. This push aims to restrict China’s access to the critical chips needed for advanced data centers.
Although Trump often announces initiatives promising economic growth, past investments, such as a $10 billion Foxconn deal in Wisconsin, have not always delivered. However, in another recent development, Trump and SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son revealed plans for SoftBank to invest $100 billion in the U.S. over the next four years, focusing on AI.
The rise of generative AI technology, triggered by the introduction of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in late 2022, has led to significant investments in the infrastructure supporting these technologies, including power generation and transmission. For instance, Microsoft has committed to spending $80 billion this fiscal year to enhance its AI capabilities.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration has imposed tighter restrictions on the export of AI chips to China, and Trump has appointed China hawks to key diplomatic and economic positions in his administration.
