Saudi Arabia is rapidly becoming one of the world’s most advanced locations for artificial intelligence, thanks to new agreements connecting local company HUMAIN with major players such as xAI, AWS, NVIDIA, AMD, and Cisco. These collaborations are bringing enormous computing power directly to the Saudi Kingdom, which will benefit not only local businesses and the government but the entire world as well. It all began at a forum in Washington, where these plans were announced, and now they are becoming a reality.
Building Data Centers and Deploying Grok
HUMAIN, which is part of the Public Investment Fund (PIF), has signed an agreement with the American company xAI, founded by Elon Musk. This collaboration focuses on building a new generation of data centers with GPUs (graphics processing units) in Saudi Arabia. The centerpiece is a flagship facility with a capacity of more than 500 megawatts, which will be one of the world’s most advanced AI centers. This is in addition to xAI’s existing superclusters and represents xAI’s first major deployment outside the United States.
Together, they are planning a network of these centers that will be inexpensive to operate and focused on training and running advanced AI models. HUMAIN brings its expertise in infrastructure design, construction, and operation, while xAI contributes expertise in optimizing large-scale computing. In addition, they have agreed to deploy Grok models throughout the country. Grok will be integrated into the HUMAIN ONE platform, enabling real-time intelligence, autonomous workflows, and advanced AI assistants for the government, businesses, and ordinary people. Elon Musk described it as building the future of intelligence through massive and efficient computing, while Tareq Amin, CEO of HUMAIN, emphasized that it delivers a scale and speed that few can replicate.
Collaboration with AWS and NVIDIA
Another major development is the expansion of the partnership between HUMAIN and AWS (Amazon Web Services), which also includes NVIDIA. Together, they plan to deploy up to 150,000 AI accelerators in a data center called the AI Zone in Riyadh. This includes the latest NVIDIA GB300 infrastructure and Trainium chips from AWS. These systems will support demanding tasks such as model training and running AI applications, making it possible to move quickly from an idea to real-world use.
AWS is becoming HUMAIN’s globally preferred AI partner, and together they will offer services to customers around the world. The AI Zone will serve both Saudi Arabia’s national needs and the growing global demand for computing. Customers will gain access to services such as Amazon Bedrock, which makes it possible to use leading models without having to worry about infrastructure, as well as Amazon AgentCore and Amazon SageMaker. HUMAIN will join the AWS Solution Provider program, accelerating AI adoption in the region.
Tanuja Randery of AWS spoke about combining HUMAIN’s local expertise with AWS’s global solutions, including its partnership with NVIDIA. Tareq Amin added that this marks the beginning of a multi-gigawatt journey serving both national priorities and global demand. They also plan to collaborate on developing advanced Arabic large language models, such as HUMAIN’s ALLAM, and on training 100,000 Saudis in cloud computing and AI through Amazon Academy, as well as 10,000 women through a dedicated program. All of this is expected to contribute $130 billion (approximately CZK 3 trillion) to the country’s GDP by 2030.
Joint Venture with AMD and Cisco
AMD, Cisco, and HUMAIN are establishing a joint venture intended to deliver up to 1 gigawatt of AI infrastructure by 2030, with ambitions to expand to multiple gigawatts. This is part of HUMAIN’s broader plans. The venture will begin operating in 2026, with an initial 100-megawatt phase powered by HUMAIN’s modern data centers, AMD Instinct MI450 Series GPUs, and critical infrastructure from Cisco.
This venture follows an agreement from May 2025, announced during U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s visit to the Kingdom. AMD and Cisco will be the exclusive technology partners, providing their products for efficient, lower-cost data centers. Dr. Lisa Su of AMD said that this brings together cutting-edge computing and networking to expand capacity in the Kingdom, and they plan to establish an AMD Center of Excellence for local innovation. Chuck Robbins of Cisco said it would help realize the vision of a digitally advanced economy. Tareq Amin emphasized that the partnership brings cutting-edge technology for high-performance infrastructure that will empower innovators both in the country and globally.
The Cisco AI Readiness Index shows that 91% of Saudi organizations plan to deploy AI agents, but only 29% have sufficient GPU capacity—this venture aims to change that by providing scalable infrastructure. These agreements are turning Saudi Arabia into an AI hub where local ambition meets global expertise.
Sources: humain.com, businesswire.com and newsroom.cisco.com
