Saudi Arabia has established a new company focused on investing in the artificial intelligence value chain ahead of US President Donald Trump’s upcoming visit, which means that artificial intelligence technology is expected to be one of the key topics of Trump’s visit.
On Monday (May 12th) local time, Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), announced on its official website that it had officially established a new company called "HUMAIN". The company will be wholly owned by PIF and will operate and invest in the artificial intelligence (AI) value chain.
The press release stated that the company will provide comprehensive AI services, products and tools, including next-generation data centers, AI infrastructure and cloud capabilities, as well as advanced AI models and solutions. It will also provide the world's most powerful multimodal Arabic Large Language Model (LLM).
HUMAIN will focus on developing and delivering AI solutions locally, regionally and globally, committed to enhancing human capabilities and supporting the unlocking of new possibilities through the digital economy. Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman will serve as the company's chairman of the board.
The statement also mentioned that HUMAIN will also simplify various data center plans, purchase hardware, and accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence technology, and will become a regional and global AI center for strategic industries such as energy, medical care, manufacturing, and finance. However, the press release did not disclose the scale of the investment.
Saudi Arabia is currently transforming itself into a global technology hub through a massive economic diversification reform plan. Last year, the country announced a $100 billion artificial intelligence project plan and is rapidly expanding its data center and cloud computing infrastructure.
Saudi Arabia's efforts are expected to receive further impetus during Trump's visit to the Middle East. According to media reports, the US government is planning to lift restrictions imposed by the Biden administration on Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other regional countries from obtaining cutting-edge AI chips.
Shortly before the release of this article, Trump left Andrews Joint Base for a three-day visit to the Middle East. Meanwhile, the Saudi-US Investment Forum is scheduled to be held in Riyadh on the day of Trump's visit (May 13), and several US corporate executives have confirmed their attendance.
According to media reports, executives from technology giants attending the meeting included Alphabet's Chief Investment Officer Ruth Porat, IBM's CEO Arvind Krishna and Qualcomm's CEO Cristiano Amon.
In recent years, US cloud computing giants have accelerated their expansion into the Gulf region, mainly benefiting from the region's low energy and land costs. Research and Markets predicts that by 2027, the Middle East and North Africa will attract about $12 billion in new data center investment.
Currently, Saudi Arabia accounts for nearly half of the region’s data center capacity, and a Saudi minister recently said the country is building more than two gigawatts of computing infrastructure.
In this context, more and more companies are planning to set up shop in Saudi Arabia, including Scale AI, a startup invested by Amazon. Meanwhile, Salesforce is also recruiting talent in Saudi Arabia as part of its $500 million investment plan.
