Oil was what gave Saudi Arabia its power for much of the twentieth century; it made the country one of the richest on earth, built its economy and made it one of geopolitics’ most influential players. Yet oil is, by definition, limited, and the whole world has been making efforts to replace it.
It is something that the Kingdom has been aware of for decades. But while the fact that the country needs an alternative source of income has been obvious for years, the scope and speed of its response in 2026, along with the choice of technology, is what makes it different.
Artificial intelligence is more than just what Saudi Arabia wants to invest in. It is the infrastructure capital that the country wants to be.
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The Numbers: Exactly How Much Money Does Saudi Arabia Spend?
During President Donald Trump’s visit to Riyadh at the end of February 2026, the Kingdom committed $100 billion for the construction of AI infrastructure facilities, which, according to Silicon Canals, is one of the biggest AI investments made by a single nation in history. This includes a $40 billion investment in an exclusive AI fund, partnered with Andreessen Horowitz, a venture capital firm from Silicon Valley whose investments have included some of the most influential tech startups of the past two decades.
That same month, Saudi Arabia proclaimed 2026 to be the Year of Artificial Intelligence, an official declaration that provides numerous opportunities for fast-tracking policies and providing AI-related incentives for all government agencies. Companies working on AI in Saudi Arabia have received $9.1 billion in investments, making the Kingdom the biggest AI investment destination within the Middle East and North African region.
Expenditure on new technology by the government increased by over 56 percent in 2024 alone. Moreover, the capacity of the data centers, which are the backbone of artificial intelligence, has increased from 68 megawatts in 2021 to over 440 megawatts in 2025, an almost sixfold growth in four years’ time. There are currently over 60 data centers in the Kingdom owned by more than 20 different firms.
This is not future projection; it is happening right now.
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What Is HUMAIN? And Why Does It Matter?
What’s perhaps the most strategically significant development related to the AI push made by Saudi Arabia is the founding of a new company known as HUMAIN.
Founded in May 2025 by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, HUMAIN is fully owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, an investment vehicle that holds $930 billion in assets and that ranks among the biggest in the world. Its focus includes AI infrastructural development, cloud computing capabilities, AI model development, and application of these tools in a variety of industries across the economy of the Saudi Arabia.
It can be viewed as the Saudi Arabian response to a national AI company that could be used to develop, maintain, and support the AI backbone of the Kingdom while, at the same time, supporting the growth of other AI firms around the globe. Its structure would replicate the successful strategy that Public Investment Fund used in entertainment, sports, and tourism.
Its latest major development took place last week when, on May 20, 2026, Accenture, an information technology services firm worth $108.5 billion globally, partnered with HUMAIN in order to help implement AI technologies in Saudi Arabia’s government and corporate sectors.
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The hardware: NVIDIA, The Hexagon and Sovereign AI
Two physical realities determine the scope of what Saudi Arabia is constructing.
The first reality involves NVIDIA, a leading American manufacturer of graphics processing units. In the course of his May 2025 visit to Riyadh, Trump confirmed a deal between Saudi Arabia and NVIDIA to construct so-called “AI factories” – data center complexes where next-generation AI models will be trained and implemented. According to Jensen Huang, NVIDIA’s CEO, “AI is essential infrastructure for every nation, just like electricity and the internet.”
Second is the Hexagon Data Centre. The Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority has awarded a contract worth $2.7 billion for this project in January 2026. Once completed, the Hexagon will boast a capacity of 480 megawatts and cover an area greater than 30 million square feet, making it the world’s largest government data center based on megawatt capacity. It is classified as Tier IV by the Uptime Institute, which is the highest standard of reliability. With the Hexagon, Saudi Arabia has also developed a National Data Lake that consists of over 430 government systems.
The goal set for Saudi Arabia is to develop between three and six gigawatts of AI computing capacity. Each gigawatt of data center capacity would cost around $30 to $50 billion.
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Why Invest in AI at This Time? Why Saudi Arabia?
Once you get it, the logic makes perfect sense.
What Saudi Arabia has is money and energy, both of which are essential for an AI-powered economy.
Data centers in the age of AI consume massive amounts of energy. But Saudi Arabia is a land blessed with immense solar potential and already existing energy facilities to meet their huge energy consumption needs in a way no other nation could do so effectively.
Moreover, Saudi Arabia also has the cash to fund such an endeavor. The Public Investment Fund has the capability to put down billions without expecting returns in the form of quarterly profits.
Lastly, strategic positioning involves Saudi Arabia as the neutral territory where American tech giants, Asian manufacturers, and Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds will interact. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has managed to attract Microsoft, Google, NVIDIA, and now Accenture to its territories. According to the 2025 Global AI Index report, the Kingdom was ranked at position number 14 and also became the first Arab country to become a member of the Global Partnership on AI. Additionally, it has hosted the UNESCO International Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research and Ethics in its capital, Riyadh.
Finally, one additional goal that needs consideration is the development of an Arabic language AI foundation. Almost all AI systems available today are trained on the English language. Having such an Arabic-language AI foundation model would help Saudi Arabia as well as the rest of the Arab world lessen their dependence on Silicon Valley technology that does not cater to their language or cultural environment.
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Implications for the Rest of the World
Saudi Arabia’s AI gambit is one that extends far beyond its immediate borders.
In the wider context of the global AI competition, it represents a new competitor in a contest between the United States and China — an additional actor with no allegiance to either camp, which could serve as a bridge between Washington and Beijing. This is a unique position to occupy right now, especially since the US and China have been tightening controls on the importation and exportation of their AI technology.
In the Middle East, Saudi Arabia’s move accelerates a broader trend that was already underway. The UAE, for example, has its own AI plan; Qatar has invested in computing power; and Egypt has created national AI plans. Now that Saudi Arabia is putting billions of dollars into the game, all governments will need to react.
The broader implication of the development of an AI model in Arabic and the creation of a non-Western center of AI technology could mean that the future of AI technology would no longer be limited to English-speaking peoples but would cater to diverse cultures.
To any observer of global economics, the above development points to where the next generation of economic powerhouses will arise. While oil fueled the rise of Saudi Arabia as an economic powerhouse for centuries, the country aims to achieve the same with compute.
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This article is based on verified reports from Arabian Business, CXO Insight Middle East, NVIDIA investor relations, and House of Saud, from May 2025 through May 2026.
References:
- Arabian Business — Saudi Arabia Declares 2026 Year of AI (March 11, 2026)
- CXO Insight Middle East — Saudi Arabia Year of AI, $9.1 Billion Funding (March 11, 2026)
- NVIDIA Investor Relations — Saudi Arabia and NVIDIA AI Factories (May 13, 2025)
- House of Saud — Saudi Arabia Year of AI Deep Dive (March 12, 2026)
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