Saudi Arabia issues 115 permits for new industrial units with $1bn investments: Data

The data from the ministry revealed that the number of industrial units across the Kingdom reached 10,707, up from 10,685 in July 2022.
Short Url
Updated 26 September 2022
Follow

Saudi Arabia issues 115 permits for new industrial units with $1bn investments: Data

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources issued 115 industrial licenses with investments worth SR4 billion ($1.06 billion) in August 2022, official data showed. 

The data from the ministry revealed that the number of industrial units across the Kingdom reached 10,707, up from 10,685 in July 2022.

In August 2021, the number of industrial facilities across Saudi Arabia was 10,159.

According to the data, 68 factories became operational in August 2022, with an investment volume of SR2.3 billion.

Forty-one licenses were issued to industrial units in the Riyadh region followed by 26 in the Eastern Province and 22 in the Makkah region.

In the Madinah region, eight new factory licenses were issued in August, and it was followed by the Qassim region with seven, four in Asir,  three each in Tabuk and Hail regions and one license for a factory in the Jazan region.


PIF’s Humain invests $3bn in Elon Musk’s xAI prior to SpaceX acquisition

Updated 18 February 2026
Follow

PIF’s Humain invests $3bn in Elon Musk’s xAI prior to SpaceX acquisition

JEDDAH: Humain, an artificial intelligence company owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, invested $3 billion in Elon Musk’s xAI shortly before the startup was acquired by SpaceX.

As part of xAI’s Series E round, Humain acquired a significant minority stake in the company, which was subsequently converted into shares of SpaceX, according to a press release.

The transaction reflects PIF’s broader push to position Saudi Arabia as a central hub in the global AI ecosystem, as part of its Vision 2030 diversification strategy.

Through Humain, the fund is seeking to combine capital deployment with infrastructure buildout, partnerships with leading technology firms, and domestic capacity development to reduce reliance on oil revenues and expand into advanced industries.

The $3 billion commitment offers potential for long-term capital gains while reinforcing the company’s role as a strategic, scaled investor in transformative technologies.

CEO Tareq Amin said: “This investment reflects Humain’s conviction in transformational AI and our ability to deploy meaningful capital behind exceptional opportunities where long-term vision, technical excellence, and execution converge, xAI’s trajectory, further strengthened by its acquisition by SpaceX, one of the largest technology mergers on record, represents the kind of high-impact platform we seek to support with significant capital.” 

The deal builds on a large-scale collaboration announced in November at the US-Saudi Investment Forum, where Humain and xAI committed to developing over 500 megawatts of next-generation AI data center and computing infrastructure, alongside deploying xAI’s “Grok” models in the Kingdom.

In a post on his X handle, Amin said: “I’m proud to share that Humain has invested $3 billion into xAI’s Series E round, just prior to its historic acquisition by SpaceX. Through this transaction, Humain became a significant minority shareholder in xAI.”

He added: “The investment builds on our previously announced 500MW AI infrastructure partnership with xAI in Saudi Arabia, reinforcing Humain’s role as both a strategic development partner and a scaled global investor in frontier AI.”

He noted that xAI’s trajectory, further strengthened by SpaceX’s acquisition, exemplifies the high-impact platforms Humain aims to support through strategic investments.

Earlier in February, SpaceX completed the acquisition of xAI, reflecting Elon Musk’s strategy to integrate AI with space exploration.

The combined entity, valued at $1.25 trillion, aims to build a vertically integrated innovation ecosystem spanning AI, space launch technology, and satellite internet, as well as direct-to-device communications and real-time information platforms, according to Bloomberg.

Humain, founded in August, consolidates Saudi Arabia’s AI initiatives under a single entity. From the outset, its vision has extended beyond domestic markets, participating across the global AI value chain from infrastructure to applications.

The company represents a strategic initiative by PIF to diversify the Kingdom’s economy and reduce oil dependence by investing in knowledge-based and advanced technologies.