Editorial illustration for IRGC threatens OpenAI's Abu Dhabi data center if US attacks its power plants
IRGC Threatens OpenAI Data Center Over US Conflict Risk
IRGC threatens OpenAI's Abu Dhabi data center if US attacks its power plants
Iran has placed a direct financial target on artificial intelligence. A new propaganda video from the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps explicitly ties a potential U.S. military strike on Iranian power plants to a retaliatory strike on OpenAI’s planned $500 billion Abu Dhabi data center, a project dubbed Stargate.
The threat focuses on desert construction coordinates, not a live server farm. Its chilling specificity is the entire point.
A video from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps suggests it will target OpenAI's planned data center if the US attacks its power plants. OpenAI's overarching $500 billion Stargate project includes investments from Oracle, Nvidia, Cisco, and SoftBank. It's not clear how much of the Abu Dhabi datacenter is actually finished, as an October 2025 update showed the beginnings of the facilities that will contain 16 gigawatts of compute power.
The update said construction was "well underway" and would meet its target of deploying 200 megawatts in 2026. OpenAI didn't immediately respond to The Verge's request for comment. Along with what appears to be satellite imagery of OpenAI's UAE data center from Google Maps, the IRGC's video also shows a photo of the executives backing the project, which misidentifies Cisco's chief product officer, Jeetu Patel, as Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
That errant caption identifying Cisco’s Jeetu Patel as Microsoft’s Satya Nadella is a rare, almost humanizing flaw in an otherwise slick piece of menace. Don’t be comforted. The substance is brutal.
The Stargate partnership with Oracle, Nvidia, Cisco, and SoftBank remains largely a blueprint, though construction for its 16-gigawatt ambition was underway last October. The 200-megawatt target for 2026 stands. OpenAI offered no comment.
The IRGC’s statement, however, is glaringly clear: the physical plants of AI, the data cathedrals we build for a promised future, are now pawns in a very old and dangerous game. The bombs may never fly. But the risk calculus for every global tech bet just shifted.
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Common Questions Answered
What specific threat did the IRGC make against OpenAI's Abu Dhabi data center?
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned that if the United States attacks Iranian power plants, they would retaliate by targeting OpenAI's planned data center in Abu Dhabi. The IRGC's video, posted on an Iranian state-backed X account, threatened 'complete and utter annihilation' of US-linked energy and technology firms.
What is the scale and investment behind OpenAI's Stargate project in Abu Dhabi?
OpenAI's Stargate project is valued at $500 billion and includes major investments from tech giants like Oracle, Nvidia, Cisco, and SoftBank. The Abu Dhabi data center is part of this initiative, with plans to contain 16 gigawatts of compute power, though the exact investment in the Abu Dhabi site remains unclear.
When was the construction of OpenAI's Abu Dhabi data center first reported?
An October 2025 update showed the initial stages of construction for the data center facilities. At that time, the project was in its early phases, with the beginnings of infrastructure being developed for the planned 16 gigawatts of compute power.
