Saudi Arabia sovereign AI programme
HUMAIN had one system of 2,800 accelerators in operation, with 18,000 announced.
HUMAIN, 2025–2030; the record also covers Project Transcendence
- operating
- pale: not yet operating
Tracked accelerators, as of 13 May 2025
Systems
Two hardware records; the pale row is announced.
Funding
| Google Cloud and PIF Saudi AI hub (US$10 billion joint investment announced May 2025) | $10B |
|---|
Money on record
The government’s documents state no budget for the programme.
Chips and rules
- Accelerators
- NVIDIA’s accelerators are in both of its systems.Chip makers’ product pages
- Fabrication
- TSMC fabricates the Blackwell and Hopper parts that two of its systems name.Chip makers’ product pages
- US export rules
- Saudi Arabia is in Country Group D:4, where exporting advanced AI chips needs a licence from the US Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS).Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, 29 Oct 2026
- Scrutica’s rating
- Scrutica rates the programme’s dependence on NVIDIA hardware and on US technology high, on a scale of none, low, medium and high.A qualitative assessment of the programme’s chips, partners and supplier relationships, as none, low, medium or high
Sites
2
Sites on record in the programme’s country, or owned by its own body.
| Owner | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HUMAIN Riyadh Phase 1 | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | Under construction | Humain | |
| HUMAIN Dammam Phase 1 | Dammam, Saudi Arabia | Under construction | Humain |
Partners
7
Related pages
Sources
15 sources
- KAUST operating-system documentation: Shaheen III GPU partition has 2,800 NVIDIA GH200 Grace Hopper Superchips: https://docs.hpc.kaust.edu.sa/systems/shaheen3/index.html
- NVIDIA, 13 May 2025: announced initial 18,000-GPU GB300 cluster for HUMAIN: https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/humain-and-nvidia-announce-strategic-partnership-to-build-ai-factories-of-the-future-in-saudi-arabia
- HUMAIN, 19 November 2025: up to 600,000 NVIDIA GPUs across Saudi Arabia and the United States over three years: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/humain-expands-strategic-partnership-with-nvidia-advancing-global-ai-infrastructure-with-xai-global-ai-and-aws-at-the-us-saudi-investment-forum-302620854.html
- Amazon, 19 November 2025: planned Riyadh AI Zone with up to 150,000 NVIDIA and Trainium accelerators: https://press.aboutamazon.com/2025/11/aws-and-humain-expand-partnership-with-nvidia-ai-infrastructure-and-aws-ai-chip-deal-to-drive-global-ai-innovation
- US Commerce, 19 November 2025: entity-specific HUMAIN and G42 authorizations and conditions: https://www.commerce.gov/news/press-releases/2025/11/statement-uae-and-saudi-chip-exports
- Confirms HUMAIN-AWS AI Zone, up to 150,000 accelerators: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251119637708/en/AWS-and-HUMAIN-Expand-Partnership-with-NVIDIA-AI-Infrastructure-and-AWS-AI-Chip-Deal-to-Drive-Global-AI-Innovation
- PIF official portfolio listing of HUMAIN: https://www.pif.gov.sa/en/our-investments/our-portfolio/humain/
- PIF Green Finance Framework, February 2022, introduction: PIF identifies itself as Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund; this establishes institutional type, not programme funding or disclosure policy: https://www.pif.gov.sa/-/media/project/pif-corporate/pif-corporate-site/our-financials/green-finance-framework/pdf/pif-green-finance-framework-february-2022.pdf
- Google Cloud, 13 May 2025: US$10B joint investment with PIF in a Saudi AI hub, to launch with HUMAIN: https://www.googlecloudpresscorner.com/2025-05-13-Google-Cloud-and-PIF-Advance-AI-Hub-in-Saudi-Arabia
- 18K GB300 chips procurement: https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/saudi-arabian-ai-venture-humain-buys-18000-nvidia-gb300-chips-several-hundred-thousand-more-on-the-way/
- HUMAIN–Cohere release, 9 July 2026: at least 50 MW, expected online Q4 2027; company release distributed by Zawya: https://www.zawya.com/en/press-release/companies-news/humain-and-cohere-announce-ai-compute-sovereign-models-and-enterprise-ai-collaboration-lb14oq24
- Middle East AI News, 7 November 2024, citing Bloomberg: proposed Project Transcendence funding of up to US$100B before an official announcement: https://www.middleeastainews.com/p/saudi-government-plans-100-billion
- Project Transcendence overview — the research file records this source as unverified (secondary reporting): https://telecomreview.com/articles/reports-and-coverage/8565-project-transcendence-saudi-arabia-s-upcoming-multi-billion-investment/
- CNBC: 11 DCs x 200 MW, $10B Google Cloud partnership, 18K GB300: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/27/saudi-arabia-wants-to-be-worlds-third-largest-ai-provider-humain.html
- Semafor, 28 May 2025, citing CEO Tareq Amin’s Financial Times interview: data-centre buildout estimated at up to US$77B, with investment sought from US technology companies: https://www.semafor.com/article/05/28/2025/saudis-ai-company-humain-plans-10b-venture-fund
Data
How the figures were made
Operating compute / delivered hardware. Reported operational or delivered: 2,800 NVIDIA GH200 Grace Hopper (physical hardware). The stage is assigned from reported hardware status, disbursements and commitments.
HUMAIN and NVIDIA announced an initial 18,000-GPU GB300 cluster in May 2025. HUMAIN's November expansion targeted up to 600,000 NVIDIA GPUs across Saudi Arabia and the United States over three years. AWS separately announced up to 150,000 NVIDIA and Trainium accelerators for a Riyadh AI Zone. In July 2026, HUMAIN and Cohere announced at least 50 MW of dedicated capacity, expected online in Q4 2027. KAUST's operating Shaheen III GPU partition has 2,800 GH200 Grace Hopper Superchips.
Caveats on this record, 7
- The May and November 2025 HUMAIN releases describe the first cluster as an announcement and provide no commissioning date.
- The November 2025 target of up to 600,000 NVIDIA GPUs covers Saudi Arabia and the United States; the release gives no country allocation or uniform model for the whole target.
- SDAIA hardware counts remain unverified. The KAUST entry covers Shaheen III’s GPU partition, with no university-wide or national GPU total.
- The AWS target combines NVIDIA GPUs and Trainium accelerators without a published split. The Cohere announcement gives no overlap with HUMAIN’s other capacity targets.
- Middle East AI News reported a proposed Project Transcendence investment of up to US$100B in November 2024, citing Bloomberg. Semafor’s May 2025 account of HUMAIN’s CEO interview put the company’s data-centre buildout at up to US$77B, with investment sought from US technology companies. Neither account specifies a government funding contribution.
- US Commerce authorized HUMAIN in November 2025 for up to the equivalent of 35,000 GB300 GPUs, subject to security and reporting conditions. The authorization provides no evidence of delivery.
- Google Cloud announced a US$10B joint investment with PIF in a Saudi AI hub on 13 May 2025. The investors’ shares and the project’s overlap with HUMAIN’s broader buildout estimate are unspecified.
Identifiers
- Scrutica ID
- sovereign-sa
- Country code
- SA
- Name in the record
- Saudi Arabia: HUMAIN / Project Transcendence