TLDR : AMD and HUMAIN, supported by the Saudi Public Investment Fund, invest $10 billion to develop a global AI infrastructure with 500 megawatts of computing capacity over five years. Saudi Arabia aims to become a central player in the AI economy, with AWS and NVIDIA contributing advanced technology services and equipment.
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AMD and HUMAIN, a recently created AI company by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, supported by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), have announced a historic agreement aimed at developing a global infrastructure dedicated to AI.
A Collaboration with Global Ambitions
This joint project, in which AMD and HUMAIN will invest $10 billion, plans the deployment of 500 megawatts of computing capacity over five years, distributed between the United States and Saudi Arabia. The goal is to build a scalable and open infrastructure, providing optimized access to advanced computing capabilities for companies, startups, and governments.
AMD brings its expertise in high-performance computing with its comprehensive technology portfolio, which includes:
- AMD Instinct™ GPUs: optimized for exceptional performance in inference and deep learning.
- AMD Pensando™ DPUs: ensuring secure and scalable networking.
- AMD ROCm™ Software Ecosystem: an open platform compatible with all AI frameworks.
HUMAIN, for its part, will oversee end-to-end delivery, including hyperscale data centers, sustainable power systems, and global fiber interconnections. The first deployments are already underway, with multi-exaflop capacity expected by 2026.
A Will to Reconfigure the Geographic Distribution of Technological Power
The active inclusion of Saudi Arabia in this technological partnership reflects a political will to position the Kingdom in the AI value chain. The country is leveraging its energy resources (hydrocarbons and solar energy), its evolving workforce, and proactive industrial policies to establish itself as a central player in the AI economy.
Complementary Roles for Technological Partners
Beyond the bilateral AMD-HUMAIN cooperation, the project takes on a systemic dimension with the participation of other strategic players. AWS plans to invest over $5 billion in a Saudi 'AI zone' integrating data centers, advanced cloud services like SageMaker, Bedrock, or Amazon Q, and next-generation inference and training capabilities. NVIDIA, for its part, will contribute to equipping a series of data centers in Saudi Arabia with several hundred thousand advanced GPUs over the next five years. The first phase will include the deployment of a Grace Blackwell GB300 supercomputer interconnected via InfiniBand, and the integration of the Nvidia Omniverse platform to accelerate simulation and industrial robotics.
Additionally, NVIDIA and HUMAIN will partner in large-scale training programs to support the upskilling of thousands of Saudi citizens and developers in advanced AI, simulation, robotics, and digital twins.
This constellation of actors forms a coherent value chain, in which HUMAIN orchestrates the infrastructure deployment, ensures operational supervision, local engineering, and strategic coherence, while technological partners provide the hardware, software, and associated expertise. The ambition is thus to create a shared, scalable, and interoperable foundation, capable of supporting both local businesses and international institutions.
To better understand
What could be the regulatory impacts of creating a global AI infrastructure between the USA and Saudi Arabia?
The creation of a global AI infrastructure between the USA and Saudi Arabia may raise compliance issues, particularly concerning cross-border data transfers, personal data protection, and national security. Involved companies will need to navigate a complex regulatory landscape to ensure compliance with the laws and regulations of both countries, as well as international standards.
How has Saudi Arabia historically evolved in the tech sector to become a strategic player?
Historically, Saudi Arabia has invested heavily in education and technological innovation as part of its Vision 2030 initiative, aimed at diversifying its economy beyond oil. The country has attracted foreign investment in emerging technologies, signed partnerships with global tech companies, and promoted industrial policies to strengthen its position in the global tech value chain.