Key takeaways: Saudi Arabia’s HUMAIN struck various deals with US companies in May 2025, aiming to cater to 6% of the world’s AI demand.
The country aims to leverage its low-cost energy sources to make AI computing 30% more affordable than the rest of the world.
However, Saudi Arabia’s close ties with China and the US’s export controls stand in the way of the Crown’s AI dreams.
Saudi Arabia’s rich oil heritage has enabled the country to dominate the crude oil market for decades, making it a key player in the industry. Now, the nation aims to replicate this success in a far more ambitious field – Artificial Intelligence.
Saudi Arabia wants to cater to 6% of the world’s total AI needs. That’s why Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman formed HUMAIN in May 2025.
HUMAIN, viewed as the AI equivalent of Aramco (Saudi’s state-owned oil giant, which is also the world’s largest energy producer), is backed by Saudi Arabia’s $1T Public Investment Fund. Tareq Amin, a former Aramco executive, was appointed as the CEO of HUMAIN.
The objective is straightforward: support AI startups, build data centers, and acquire and produce AI chips, with the goal to make Saudi Arabia the third-largest destination for AI, just behind China and the United States.
Saudi’s Progress in the AI field
Saudi Arabia has already been taking giant strides, striking several deals in partnership with global tech companies:
HUMAIN announced a $5B+ agreement with Amazon Web Services for AI training and data centers.
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