UAE to deploy 8 exaflop supercomputer in India to strengthen local sovereign AI infrastructure

Abu Dhabi will establish a national-scale AI supercomputer in India with 8 exaflops of compute capacity, marking a new phase in India’s AI infrastructure development.

The system will be delivered by G42, the Abu Dhabi-based global technology group, and Cerebras, makers of the world’s fastest AI inference, in partnership with Mohamed Bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), and India’s Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC).

The landmark project was announced on the sidelines of the AI Impact Summit 2026 taking place in New Delhi, India. It follows the 5^th India-UAE Strategic Dialogue held in December 2025 and the visit of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, to India in January 2026, that solidified a comprehensive partnership framework across defense, technology, space and energy.

At 8 exaflops, the new system represents a significant increase in peak compute capacity, marking a transition to exaflop-scale AI infrastructure in India and expanding the country’s domestic compute capabilities for advanced AI development.

Hosted within India, the system will operate under India-defined governance frameworks, with all data remaining within national jurisdiction. Designed to meet sovereign security and compliance requirements, the supercomputer will serve as a foundational asset under the India AI Mission.

“Sovereign AI 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 AI-native while maintaining full data sovereignty and security.”

Once operational, the India supercomputer will be accessible to the nation’s diverse ecosystem, from premier institutions to startups, small and medium enterprises, and government ministries. This democratized access model is designed to lower barriers to AI innovation, particularly for applications serving India’s 1.4 billion citizens.

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

“Cerebras and G42 have already successfully delivered Condor Galaxy supercomputers in the United States, demonstrating how our technology is purpose-built for the most demanding AI workloads at scale,” said Andy Hock, Chief Strategy Officer, Cerebras. “Deploying this system in India marks a significant step forward in the country’s computational capacity and sovereign AI initiatives. It will accelerate training and inference for large-scale models, enabling researchers and developers to build AI tailored to India’s needs.”

This latest project builds on G42’s commitment to supporting nations in building domestic AI capability. In December 2025, G42 and MBZUAI released the latest version of the open-source Hindi-English large language model (LLM), NANDA 87B, featuring 87 billion parameters. As one of the world’s fastest-growing digital economies, India plays a central role in advancing regional AI innovation. The new supercomputer aims to strengthen India’s ability to build, deploy and scale AI securely within its own borders.