Following Donald Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia has unveiled a series of transformative partnerships with American tech giant Nvidia to position the Arabian Gulf state as a world leader in artificial intelligence, enterprise computing, digital twins and robotics.
The announcement was made during a high-profile state visit by US President Donald Trump following a meeting with Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia.
At the heart of the initiative is a bold vision to develop sovereign AI infrastructure and establish Saudi Arabia as a global hyperscale AI hub. Speaking during a summit in Riyadh, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang highlighted the centrality of AI to national progress.
“AI, like electricity and the internet, is essential infrastructure for every nation,” Huang stated. “Together with Humain, we are building AI infrastructure for the people and companies of Saudi Arabia to realise the bold vision of the Kingdom.”
Humain, a Saudi AI-focused entity backed by the country’s Public Investment Fund, is pivotal in this strategy. Its CEO, Tareq Amin, described the collaboration as a defining step toward technological leadership.
“Our partnership with Nvidia is a bold step forward in realising the Kingdom’s ambitions to lead in AI and advanced digital infrastructure,” Amin said. “Together, we are building the capacity, capability and a new globally enabled community to shape a future powered by intelligent technology and empowered people.”
Five-year plan
Under the new alliance, several initiatives will be implemented across Saudi Arabia over the next five years. These efforts are designed to build a nationwide AI backbone powered by Nvidia’s cutting-edge technologies.
Humain will invest heavily in creating AI factories across Saudi Arabia, with a projected capacity of up to 500 megawatts. These factories will be powered by hundreds of thousands of Nvidia’s most advanced GPUs. The first stage will feature the deployment of an 18,000-unit Nvidia GB300 Grace Blackwell AI supercomputer networked using Nvidia’s high-speed InfiniBand platform.
This ambitious infrastructure push also includes launching Saudi Arabia’s first Nvidia Omniverse Cloud. The platform will enable the simulation of real-world scenarios through digital twins, supporting the development and testing of physical AI systems in virtual environments.
Beyond the technological infrastructure, Nvidia also invests in human capital. The company will lead efforts to train thousands of developers across Saudi Arabia in accelerated computing and AI applications. These educational programmes will empower a new generation of professionals with the skills to tackle complex national and global challenges.
In collaboration with the Saudi Data & AI Authority (SDAIA), up to 5,000 Blackwell GPUs will be deployed in a sovereign AI factory to support smart city projects and government services. SDAIA and Nvidia will also support academic and government scientists in learning to build and deploy cutting-edge AI models in physical and agentic applications.
“This partnership with Nvidia reflects SDAIA’s commitment to harnessing and advancing the potential of data and AI through continuous innovation,” said Dr Abdullah bin Sharaf Alghamdi, President of SDAIA.
“It marks a significant step toward positioning the Kingdom as a leader among data- and AI-driven economies, and in building a knowledge-based society and an advanced digital economy aligned with the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030.”
Saudi Aramco’s digital subsidiary, Aramco Digital, will also lead the initiative. The company will build AI computing infrastructure, partner with Nvidia’s global startup ecosystem, and develop enterprise AI platforms. Additionally, a robotics and engineering centre of excellence will be established using Nvidia technologies, enhancing Saudi Arabia’s automation and smart manufacturing capabilities.
Image: The Nvidia Blackwell Ultra AI factory platform enables organisations to accelerate applications such as AI reasoning, agentic AI and physical AI. Credit: Nvidia
