Damac's Sajwani Targets 10GW of Data Centre Capacity by End of 2027, Up From 6GW

The target would add two-thirds to the pipeline in little over a year, and Sajwani's remarks on rising costs, equipment shortages and power gave a rare account from a Gulf developer of the constraints on building capacity for AI. Damac, best known as a Dubai property developer, has moved into the sector through its DAMAC Digital and EDGNEX businesses.

The 6 gigawatts is planned capacity rather than capacity in operation. In a press release in June, DAMAC Digital said its landbank of planned IT capacity had reached 6,000MW across 13 countries and more than 35 sites, and that it was aiming for more than 700MW of operational capacity across 14 sites by the first quarter of 2027, rising to 2GW by the end of the first quarter of 2028.

Sajwani said on Thursday that the portfolio now spans 14 countries, with about 1,000 megawatts in the United States, 2,500 megawatts in Europe and 2,500 megawatts in Asia. Expansion markets include Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Finland, Spain, Greece, Italy, Turkey and the US.

In the US, he said the group remains committed to its announced $20 billion data centre investment plan, of which about $9 billion has been invested, with the rest depending on access to land and power. He expects the US to stay the world's largest market, but said limits on power, land and environmental approvals could push companies to invest more abroad.

Rising Costs and Equipment Delays

Damac focuses on large facilities starting at 100 megawatts and relies mainly on liquid cooling designed for AI chips and high-density computing. Sajwani said development costs have risen by about 30% and could climb a further 20% to 30%, with the US and Europe the most expensive markets and Asia cheaper for labour and equipment.

He said the bigger problem is not cost but supply-chain disruption and repeated delays in delivering the equipment needed to finish projects. Higher costs, he said, can be handled through pricing models and contracts with large corporate customers. He argued for solving the power and water demands of data centres rather than limiting their construction, saying liquid cooling improves water efficiency and that electricity pricing could be set so data centres bear higher costs while consumers benefit.

Personal Bets on AI Labs

Sajwani also said his own investments in OpenAI, SpaceX and Anthropic are producing profits in the billions of dollars, and that his gain on Anthropic in less than two years matched what he had earned over about 30 years in business before. His technology holdings also include xAI, Databricks, ByteDance, Together AI and Reflection, along with stakes in about 100 US investment funds, including venture capital funds.

He said he does not regard AI as a bubble but as a long-term technological shift, while allowing that market valuations could correct in the coming years at a time and scale that are hard to predict.

Asked about Nvidia, which announced on Thursday that Jensen Huang had resigned as chief executive, Sajwani called it one of the most important companies in the world and said a fundamental change in its leadership could affect the sector without necessarily halting its development.

On the next phase of the build-out, Sajwani said Damac plans to buy more land outside the US over the next 12 to 18 months, is in serious negotiations to acquire a large plot in Australia, and intends to expand into the United Kingdom.