South Korea, UAE Sign Seven MoUs on AI, Nuclear, Space

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung and United Arab Emirates President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan signed seven memorandums of understanding on Tuesday to expand cooperation in artificial intelligence, nuclear energy, space exploration and other high-tech sectors during a summit in Abu Dhabi. The agreements, announced during Lee's state visit to the UAE, mark South Korea's entry into the UAE's ambitious Stargate AI infrastructure project, a multibillion-dollar initiative aimed at building some of the world's largest AI data centers.

The Stargate project, led by Abu Dhabi-based G42 in partnership with U.S. firms including OpenAI, Oracle, Nvidia and Cisco, as well as Japan's SoftBank, seeks an initial investment exceeding $22 billion and up to 5 gigawatts of data center capacity. The first phase includes a 200-megawatt facility set to operate next year, with plans for expansion to 1 gigawatt and beyond. South Korea's involvement will leverage its expertise in energy management, advanced battery systems and climate-focused technologies to address the project's significant power needs, including onsite generation and storage solutions. Officials from Seoul's presidential office...