Triple-hub Digital Triangle to anchor Oman’s AI ecosystem

MUSCAT — Oman is building a national artificial intelligence ecosystem anchored by a “digital triangle” of three gigawatt-scale digital hubs, a sovereign national large language model, and a dedicated AI economic zone created by Royal Decree, officials said. The multi-layered approach aims to combine large-scale green data-centre infrastructure, model development and application incubation with governance and international collaboration to position the Sultanate as a regional platform for next‑generation AI technologies.

“If you look at the infrastructure layer, for example, Oman is developing a digital triangle,” said Dr Ali al Shidhani, Under‑Secretary for Communications and Information Technology, speaking on the sidelines of the inaugural UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance in Geneva. “We are developing three digital hubs with gigawatt capacity to host green AI data centres, banking on the richness of the submarine cables that are landing in Oman, as well as the diversity of renewable energy sources.”

Dr Al Shidhani outlined a three‑tiered strategy that links physical infrastructure, proprietary AI models and application development. At the infrastructure level, the “digital triangle” will leverage Oman’s strategic connectivity via multiple submarine cable landings and expanding renewable energy resources to support gigawatt‑scale, low‑carbon AI data centres. This is intended to attract both international traffic and localised compute for energy‑efficient, large‑scale model training and inference.

• Infrastructure: Three digital hubs with gigawatt capacity to host green AI data centres and leverage submarine cable networks and renewables.
• Model layer: A sovereign national large language model designed to preserve Oman’s language, heritage and culture while enabling locally relevant AI applications.
• Application layer: An AI Studio described as a “factory for AI ideas” to help innovators turn concepts into commercial products and solutions.

The government has also issued a Royal Decree establishing an AI economic zone intended to attract entrepreneurs, researchers and innovators. “This AI zone will function as a magnet to bring together entrepreneurs, innovators and researchers to build new AI products and solutions to solve real‑world problems,” Dr Al Shidhani said, indicating a policy environment tailored to incubation, research collaboration and commercial deployment.

Beyond hard infrastructure and tools, Oman's strategy explicitly incorporates governance and trust. “When we talk about AI, we often focus on the visible components of AI, like chips, models and applications,” Dr Al Shidhani said. “But what’s equally important are the invisible components of AI, specifically governance and trust.” He added that “Governance and trust, although invisible, are the glue that glues together the AI stack.”

To drive sustainable AI development, Oman has launched the Green AI Alliance, a coalition of government, private sector and academic partners — both local and international — focused on energy‑efficient AI solutions and new economic opportunities. “Governance is mandatory. Trust has to be grounded. Cooperation is essential and AI innovation is inevitable,” Dr Al Shidhani said, summarising the pillars he sees as essential for equitable outcomes.

Outlook: The combination of strategic connectivity, renewable energy, a sovereign model and a purpose‑built AI zone creates a comprehensive platform for AI activity. Key near‑term indicators to watch will include the selection of sites for the three digital hubs, timelines for data‑centre buildout, initial deployments of the national large language model, and the first cohort of startups and research projects based in the AI economic zone.