Trump announces $20 billion US investment by Emirati businessman

US President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday announced a $20 billion new investment to build data centers across the United States.

At a news conference at his home in Palm Beach, Florida, Trump said the investor is Emirati billionaire Hussain Sajwani, chairman of DAMAC properties.

Trump introduced Hussain Sajwani, chairman of DAMAC Properties, as "one of the most respected business leaders in the Middle East, indeed the world."

Trump said at a news conference that he believed Sajwani made the commitment because "he was very inspired by the election and wouldn't do it without the election." The president-elect emphasized his plans to get investments of $1 billion or more through the environmental regulatory review process quickly.

Following Trump, Sajwani briefly joined the news conference and said: "It's been amazing news for me and my family when he was elected in November."

Sajwani's promised investment feeds into an existing boom for constructing data centers used in the development of artificial intelligence and expansion of cryptocurrency, as well as in other elements of an increasingly digital economy that relies on having greater sources of computer processing power.

Big technology companies have been racing over the past year to set up data centers essential for powering generative artificial intelligence applications such as OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google Gemini, which require immense computing power.

Microsoft said last week it would spend about $80 billion this fiscal year to ramp up its AI capacity.

Overall, global spending on procurement and installation of mechanical and electrical systems for data centers is likely to exceed $250 billion by 2030, McKinsey estimates.

 Agencies