The deals follow a revision of Biden-era GPU export rules by the US Commerce Department, timed with President Trump’s visit to the Middle East this week. The rule change loosens restrictions on selling advanced semiconductors to “intermediary” nations like Saudi Arabia and the UAE — countries previously caught in the crossfire of efforts to limit China’s access to AI hardware.
With the door now open, both chip giants struck separate agreements with Humain, a newly launched AI firm owned by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF).
Nvidia and AMD will lead individual infrastructure projects, using their respective silicon to scale AI compute and help establish Saudi Arabia as a regional AI hub alongside Humain.
“AI, like electricity and internet, is essential infrastructure for every nation,” said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of Nvidia. “Together with Humain, we are building AI infrastructure for the people and companies of Saudi Arabia to realise the bold vision of the Kingdom.”
“Our investment with HUMAIN is a significant milestone in advancing global AI infrastructure,” said Dr. Lisa Su, chair and CEO of AMD. “Together, we are building a globally significant AI platform that delivers performance, openness and reach at unprecedented levels.”
Flush with capital and political backing, Saudi Arabia is the latest entrant in the global AI race. Backed by the sovereign wealth fund PIF and chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman himself, Humain aims to position the Kingdom as a “globally competitive hub” for AI, starting with foundational infrastructure.
The new company has been tasked with streamlining national data centre initiatives, acquiring cutting-edge hardware, and developing AI models tailored to the region, including what it claims will be one of the world’s most powerful Arabic large language models.
Humain is led by Tareq Amin, formerly CEO of Aramco Digital, the in-house tech and digital transformation arm of the Saudi oil giant. He also previously served as CTO and CEO of Rakuten Mobile, respectively.
Both Nvidia and AMD have signed up to support Humain’s plans to deploy 500 megawatts of AI compute capacity over the next five years.
AMD’s announcement explicitly states the two parties plan to invest up to $10 billion as part of the agreement — a figure not disclosed in Nvidia’s release.
Humain will oversee end-to-end delivery, including hyperscale data centres, sustainable power systems, and global fibre interconnects, while Nvidia and AMD will contribute their respective hardware and software stacks to power separate projects under the initiative.
With the chipmakers locked in, data centre operators are now rushing to establish a footprint in the Kingdom.
Just as the pair signed up with Humain, Amazon unveiled plans to invest more than $5 billion to launch dedicated AWS infrastructure in Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, Dubai-based Khazna Data Centers is reportedly aiming to capture 25% of the market.
With hardware leaders already onboard, the data centre developers are already lining up to build in Saudi Arabia, with Amazon unveiling plans to invest $5 billion-plus to launch dedicated AWS infrastructure.
Dubai-based Khazna Data Centers is also among those vying to set up shop in Saudi Arabia, with recent reports suggesting the regional player has eyes on capturing “at least 25%” of the Kingdom’s data centre market.
Equinix, DataVolt, and Alfanar are also looking at expanding into the market, while hyperscale giants like AWS and Microsoft are set to launch dedicated cloud regions in the kingdom, both of which are set to launch by 2026.
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