UAE to deploy 8-exaflop sovereign AI supercomputer in India

New Delhi: Abu Dhabi will set up a national-scale artificial intelligence supercomputer in India with a peak capacity of 8 exaflops, marking a major expansion of the country’s domestic compute infrastructure for advanced AI development.

The system will be delivered by G42, the Abu Dhabi-based technology group, and Cerebras, in partnership with Mohamed Bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) and the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC). The project was announced on the sidelines of the AI Impact Summit 2026 in New Delhi.

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Hosted within India, the supercomputer will operate under India-defined governance frameworks, with all data remaining within national jurisdiction. It is designed to meet sovereign security and compliance requirements and will function as a core asset under the India AI Mission.

“Sovereign Al infrastructure is becoming essential for national competitiveness," said Manu Jain, CEO of G42 India. "This project brings that capability to India at a national scale, enabling local researchers, innovators, and enterprises to become Al-native while maintaining full data sovereignty and security.”

Once operational, the facility will be accessible to a wide ecosystem, including academic institutions, startups, MSMEs and government ministries, under a democratised access model aimed at lowering barriers to AI innovation for applications across healthcare, agriculture and education.

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“MBZUAI is committed to advancing Al research and education that addresses real-world challenges. This collaboration with India represents a shared commitment to expanding access to advanced Al compute for researchers and students, enabling breakthroughs in critical areas like healthcare, agriculture and education,” said Richard Morton, Executive Director, Institute of Foundation Models, MBZUAI.

Cerebras said the deployment would significantly enhance India’s ability to train and run large-scale AI models domestically.

“Deploying this system in India marks a significant step forward in the country's computational capacity and sovereign Al initiatives. It will accelerate training and inference for large-scale models, enabling researchers and developers to build Al tailored to India's needs,” said Andy Hock, Chief Strategy Officer, Cerebras.

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The announcement follows the fifth India-UAE Strategic Dialogue in December 2025 and the visit of UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to India in January 2026, which expanded cooperation in defence, technology, space and energy.

The initiative builds on earlier collaboration between G42 and MBZUAI, including the release of the open-source Hindi-English large language model NANDA 87B in December 2025. Officials said the new supercomputer would strengthen India’s ability to develop, deploy and scale AI securely within its borders as one of the world’s fastest-growing digital economies.