Several major U.S. technology companies announced significant artificial intelligence (AI) deals in the Middle East on Tuesday, coinciding with President Donald Trump’s visit to Gulf states. During the visit, Trump secured $600 billion in commitments from Saudi Arabia to U.S. companies.
Among the largest agreements, Nvidia confirmed it will sell hundreds of thousands of AI chips to Saudi Arabia. The first shipment will include 18,000 of Nvidia’s newest “Blackwell” chips, which will be supplied to Humain, an AI startup launched by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. Similarly, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has agreed to a $10 billion collaboration with Humain.
Qualcomm also joined the list of companies partnering with Humain. It signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a central processing unit (CPU) for a data center. Qualcomm, which acquired server CPU maker Nuvia in 2021, has yet to release a product but is focused on this strategic collaboration.
Trump’s Gulf tour kicked off with the signing of a strategic economic agreement with Saudi Arabia. The visit is part of efforts to attract trillions in investments. As part of the bilateral agreements, Saudi Arabian company DataVolt will invest $20 billion in AI data centers and energy infrastructure in the U.S. Meanwhile, U.S. tech giants such as Google, Oracle, Salesforce, AMD, and Uber will invest $80 billion in transformative technologies across both nations.
Additionally, the U.S. administration is nearing an agreement with the UAE to allow the purchase of large volumes of Nvidia’s AI chips, according to The New York Times.
Saudi Arabia, which is working to reduce its dependence on oil revenue, aims to become a global hub for AI innovation. As part of this vision, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman launched Humain, which will lead AI technology development in the kingdom.
In partnership with Nvidia, Humain plans to establish AI factories in Saudi Arabia, utilizing Nvidia’s platforms to help the country become a leader in AI, GPU cloud computing, and digital transformation. Over the next five years, the two companies will invest in building factories with a capacity of up to 500 megawatts, incorporating hundreds of thousands of Nvidia’s advanced GPUs.
Humain’s collaboration with AMD will also focus on deploying 500 megawatts of AI hardware infrastructure. AMD will provide CPUs, GPUs, and software to support AI cloud computing platforms for Humain. The partnership aims to offer flexibility by avoiding dependency on a single vendor for AI hardware.
Humain, led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and operating under the Public Investment Fund, will focus on delivering AI services such as data centers, AI infrastructure, cloud capabilities, and advanced AI models. Humain CEO Tareq Amin emphasized the importance of building a strong foundation and infrastructure to make the initiative successful.
“Building an AI company requires a solid foundation,” Amin stated during the announcement in Riyadh. “This is a very ambitious project for the kingdom.”
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