From oil fields to computing power: Saudi Arabia's roadmap to building an AI powerhouse, discussing cooperation with OpenAI and others

Saudi Arabia is accelerating its strategic layout in the field of artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence platform HUMAIN recently announced plans to set up a venture capital fund of up to $10 billion and develop data center capacity with a total value of $77 billion, aiming to consolidate its technological leadership in the Middle East.

HUMAIN is supported by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, and is one of the key technology projects under the country's "Vision 2030" to promote economic diversification. The platform is committed to integrating AI services, data centers, cloud computing capabilities and large Arabic language models to create a regional artificial intelligence ecosystem.

Tareg Amin, CEO of HUMAIN, revealed in an interview that the company is actively seeking cooperation with global technology giants, especially in generative artificial intelligence and infrastructure construction. Currently, the company is in in-depth discussions on joint projects with OpenAI, Elon Musk's xAI, and Andreessen Horowitz, a well-known Silicon Valley venture capital firm.

"Our goal is to make Saudi Arabia a regional center for AI research and development and application, not only investing heavily in resources, but also seeking strategic alliances in international cooperation," Amin said.

According to HUMAIN's plan, the proposed data center will provide billions of watts of computing power to the region, providing a solid foundation for the training and deployment of local AI models. In addition, the company also plans to launch a large language model optimized for Arabic to fill the gap in the uneven allocation of language resources in the current global AI ecosystem.

This large-scale investment not only demonstrates Saudi Arabia's determination to accelerate the transformation from a "resource economy" to a "knowledge economy", but also indicates that the role of the Middle East in the global technology competition landscape is undergoing a fundamental change.

Analysts pointed out that HUMAIN's venture capital fund may become one of the largest AI-specific investment projects in the Middle East, and its layout in talent introduction, technology incubation and international cooperation in the next few years deserves continued attention.