Key takeaways Humain announces plans to build approximately 6 gigawatts of data center capacity in Saudi Arabia. Company launches Humain 1, a new AI-powered operating system, at Fortune Global Forum i...
Saudi Arabia's state-backed artificial intelligence company Humain unveiled ambitious plans on Monday to construct approximately 6 gigawatts of data center capacity and introduced a new AI operating system called Humain 1, marking a significant escalation in the kingdom's efforts to establish itself as a global AI powerhouse.
The announcements were made by Tareq Amin, CEO of Humain, during his address at the Fortune Global Forum in Riyadh on October 27, according to Reuters. The conference, held for the first time in the Saudi capital, brought together CEOs and senior leaders from Fortune 500 companies and multinational organizations.
The 6-gigawatt data center plan represents a dramatic expansion of Saudi Arabia's computing infrastructure.
Humain is constructing the facilities across two major campuses in the kingdom, each comprising 11 data centers with 200-megawatt capacity.
The company aims to have 50 megawatts operational by the fourth quarter of 2025, with an additional 50 megawatts added every quarter into 2026.
According to previous announcements, Humain targets deploying 1.9 gigawatts of capacity by 2030 and scaling to 6.6 gigawatts by 2034. The full project cost is estimated at approximately $77 billion based on current valuations.
The company has already broken ground on its first data centers in Riyadh and Dammam, in the Eastern Province, which are expected to begin operating in the second quarter of 2026 with an initial capacity of up to 100 megawatts each.
These facilities will house advanced semiconductors from U.S. chipmakers, including Nvidia's latest Blackwell chips. Humain has received local regulatory approval to purchase 18,000 of Nvidia's cutting-edge AI chips.
Humain, owned by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was officially launched in May 2025 during President Donald Trump's visit to the kingdom.
The timing coincided with the U.S. administration easing export control restrictions on advanced AI chips to Gulf nations.
In an earlier interview with CNBC, Amin outlined the company's global ambitions. "Our ambition is very clear. We want to be the third-largest AI provider in the world, behind the United States and China," he stated.
The company has rapidly established partnerships with leading American technology firms, signing $23 billion worth of agreements with Nvidia, AMD, Amazon Web Services, and Qualcomm. These collaborations span chip procurement, cloud infrastructure development, and AI model training.
Humain's aggressive expansion reflects Saudi Arabia's broader strategy to diversify its economy beyond oil revenues and position itself as a regional leader in artificial intelligence.
The company is developing advanced Arabic large language models, including Allam 34B, which it describes as one of the world's most advanced Arabic-first AI models.
The initiative comes as Gulf nations compete for AI supremacy in the region. The United Arab Emirates announced plans in May to collaborate with the U.S. on building what they called the largest data center complex outside the United States.
The strategic importance of Humain's mission extends beyond economic considerations.
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