India and UAE partner on AI sovereignty with Cerebras supercomputers
India has partnered with the UAE's G42 to deploy Cerebras AI supercomputers on Indian soil, creating a non-US alternative to AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud for government AI workloads. The deal, signed on May 15, 2026, puts 64 Cerebras systems in India, installed and operated by G42's Core42 unit under Indian data governance rules.
Hardware and ownership
- 64 Cerebras wafer-scale systems: each chip is a single dinner-plate-sized silicon piece, larger than any Nvidia chip. Designed for fast inference rather than large model training.
- G42 unit Core42 handles installation, operations, maintenance; Cerebras provides technical support.
- Data remains under Indian governance rules; the autonomous scientific body Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) partners with Core42.
- Financial terms and hardware ownership post-installation undisclosed.
Why this matters for developers
India's existing $1.25 billion national AI program runs entirely on Nvidia processors (34,000 available, targeting 100,000). The G42 deal adds a second path — machines on Indian soil, under Indian rules, run by a non-U.S. partner. This is part of G42's “Intelligence Grid” — a global network of AI facilities built, owned, and operated for governments. India is the first signatory; discussions with other countries are ongoing.
Cerebras vs. Nvidia
Cerebras chips prioritize inference speed over training capability, aligning with India's goal to deploy AI across healthcare, agriculture, and public services. G42 became Cerebras' largest customer in 2021 and jointly built three Condor Galaxy facilities (California, Texas, Minnesota). Together, G42 and UAE's MBZUAI bought 86% of Cerebras' 2025 revenue. Cerebras went public on Nasdaq on May 14, 2026, raising $5.55 billion.
Competitive realities
India already has $45 billion commitments from US cloud providers: Microsoft ($17.5B), Google ($15B), AWS ($12.7B) — all Nvidia-based. Tufts professor Chris Miller notes G42 must match the integrated software and developer tools ecosystem those providers offer. Former US Commerce acting secretary Cameron Kerry points out India's approach is “pragmatic AI sovereignty” — assembling capabilities from multiple partners rather than full control.
Ironically, G42 works with those same US companies in the UAE: Amazon runs a full cloud region and Microsoft committed $15.2B to UAE data centers via G42's subsidiary Khazna. This deal may give India less control than it appears, Kerry warned, given India's liberal data transfer laws.
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