Brookfield and Qatar Launch $20 Billion AI Infrastructure Venture

Doha, Qatar - Brookfield Asset Management and Qai, Qatar’s new national AI company and a subsidiary of the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), have launched a joint venture worth up to $20 billion to build advanced AI infrastructure. The partnership will focus on high-performance data centres, energy supply and related assets that power AI workloads in Qatar and selected international markets. 

The venture will be a cornerstone investment of Brookfield’s recently launched Brookfield Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Fund (BAIIF), which aims to mobilise up to $100 billion globally into AI-related infrastructure such as data centres, power and cooling. 

Why Qatar Is Making a $20 Billion AI Bet

Qatar has been steadily positioning itself as a regional technology and innovation hub, and this JV is a major escalation of that strategy:

• National AI Agenda: Qai was created as a homegrown AI company to accelerate AI adoption across government and industry, aligned with Qatar National Vision 2030 and its push for a knowledge-based economy.
• Competition in the Gulf: The move places Qatar directly in the regional race with the UAE and Saudi Arabia, both of which are investing heavily in AI, data centres and sovereign AI models.
• Infrastructure Gap: Global analysis suggests that trillions of dollars in data-centre and compute investments will be needed this decade to support AI growth. Qatar wants to be one of the locations where that infrastructure physically sits, not just a buyer of services from abroad. 

In simple terms: Qatar is not just trying to use AI; it is trying to become one of the places where AI runs.

What the Joint Venture Will Actually Build

The partnership is expected to deliver several layers of AI infrastructure: 

1. Integrated Compute Center in Qatar
2. Large-scale high-performance computing (HPC) and AI-optimised data centres. Designed to serve both local and regional demand for AI workloads.
3. Supporting Energy & Cooling Infrastructure
4. Power generation and grid connections tailored to energy-intensive AI workloads.
   Advanced cooling systems to run GPU-dense data centres efficiently in a hot climate.

The Government of Qatar is also expected to support skills development and supply-chain capabilities around this infrastructure (engineers, technicians, data-centre operations, specialised construction, etc.), embedding it into the wider economy. 

Strategic Impact for Qatar’s Economy

• Strengthening Qatar as an AI & Cloud Hub

This JV positions Qatar to become a regional hub for AI compute and trusted digital infrastructure, rather than relying on facilities in Europe, North America or other Gulf states. That supports:

• • Digital sovereignty: More sensitive workloads (government, finance, energy) can be processed on infrastructure located in Qatar under local regulations.
  • Attraction of global players: Cloud providers, AI startups, and enterprise AI companies are more likely to set up operations where large-scale, reliable compute is available.

• Diversification Beyond Hydrocarbons

The JV directly supports Qatar’s strategy to diversify away from pure hydrocarbons by:

• • Creating new high-value jobs in data-centre operations, software, cybersecurity, and AI engineering.
  • Generating long-term infrastructure assets that can deliver recurring revenue, similar to LNG but in the digital domain.

• Positioning in the Global AI Infrastructure Map

By anchoring Brookfield’s flagship AI infrastructure fund in Qatar, the country becomes one of the anchor geographies in a global $100bn programme. This increases Qatar’s visibility with:

• • Global investors and infrastructure funds
    
  • Major chipmakers and hardware vendors
  • International AI platform companies and hyperscalers 

What It Means for Entrepreneurs and Startups in Qatar

This is where it gets especially interesting for founders and ecosystem builders.

• Access to High-Performance Compute, Locally

For AI and deep-tech startups in Qatar, a local Integrated Compute Center can:

• • Reduce latency and costs compared with relying solely on overseas cloud regions.
  • Make it easier to work with sensitive local datasets (finance, healthcare, public services) that must stay in-country.
  • Enable experimentation with GPU-hungry models (foundation models, generative AI, computer vision) that are currently out of reach for many early-stage teams. 

If structured well, this could translate into startup-friendly compute programmes (credits, subsidised access, sandbox environments) built on top of the JV’s infrastructure.

• New B2B Markets Around the Infrastructure

A $20bn AI infrastructure build-out creates many adjacent opportunities for Qatari startups, for example:

• • DevOps & MLOps tools for managing AI workloads on local infrastructure.
  • Cybersecurity and compliance solutions tailored to AI data centres and national regulations.
  • Energy-tech and cooling optimisation startups that help reduce the energy footprint of AI compute.
  • Data platforms and sector-specific AI products (for logistics, sports, health, Arabic NLP, fintech) that leverage the new compute backbone.

• Talent Magnet and Ecosystem Density

Large-scale infrastructure tends to pull in:

• • Senior engineers and architects with data-centre, cloud and AI experience.
    
  • Global vendors (chips, networking, storage, cooling) that need local technical teams.
  • International startups and scaleups looking for a Gulf base with serious compute.

For local founders, that means denser networks of mentors, experienced hires and potential co-founders, which is often more important than capital alone. 

• Potential for New Funding and Co-Investment Channels

With Brookfield and QIA jointly committed to AI infrastructure, it becomes more likely that:

• • Dedicated AI and deep-tech investment vehicles will emerge in Qatar, tied to this infrastructure.
  • Co-investment structures could be created for high-growth companies building on top of the JV’s platform.

While details have not been publicly announced yet, the pattern from other markets suggests that once large infra is in place, growth-stage capital for AI applications tends to follow.