Saudi AI Firm Humain Begins Data Center Push With 18,000 Nvidia Chips, $10B AMD Deal in Tow

Saudi Arabia's brand-new AI venture, Humain, has officially broken ground on its first data centers in the country and it's not wasting time. The Riyadh- and Dammam-based sites are expected to be up and running by early 2026, with each initially drawing up to 100 megawatts of power.

The company's CEO, Tareq Amin, says they're sourcing top-tier chips from Nvidia (NVDA, Financials) and have already gotten the green light to import 18,000 of the latest Nvidia AI units. That's a bold move but there's a catch. These imports still hinge on U.S. government approvals, which Amin expects to begin navigating very, very soon.

Humain, which only launched in May 2025 and is owned by the Saudi Public Investment Fund, is dreaming big. It aims to scale up to 1.9 gigawatts of data center capacity by 2030 a massive number that signals Saudi Arabia's serious ambitions in the AI space.

There's also a U.S. connection beyond Nvidia. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD, Financials) is partnering with Humain in a joint venture that could see the chip giant take equity in a special fund being set up in the Kingdom. This is all part of a $10 billion deal the two companies signed earlier this year.

Whether it's chips, compute, or data dominance the Saudi AI race is clearly on.