RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s National Infrastructure Fund and Humain, an artificial intelligence company backed by the Public Investment Fund, have agreed on a financing framework worth up to $1.2 billion to expand AI and digital infrastructure in the Kingdom.
The non-binding agreement, announced on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, sets out financing terms to develop as much as 250 megawatts of AI data center capacity to serve Humain’s local, regional and global customers, according to a statement.
The development aligns with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 program, which aims to position the Kingdom as a regional technology hub by the end of the decade.
Tareq Amin, CEO of Humain, said: “Demand growth for advanced compute is intensifying, and this Framework Agreement positions Humain to respond with speed and scale.”
He added: “In partnership with Infra, our goal is to deliver world-class AI data center infrastructure that enterprises can rely on as their compute needs grow more complex.”
Under the deal, Infra and Humain have also agreed to explore the establishment of an AI data center investment platform.
This would be anchored by the two organizations and structured to facilitate participation by global and local institutional investors to support further scaling of Humain’s AI strategy.
Esmail Alsallom, CEO of Infra, said that the framework agreement is an important step in expanding Infra’s role of unlocking infrastructure investment opportunities in the Kingdom.
He added: “Our partnership with Humain will activate new pathways to grow institutional investment and develop the digital economy through enabling AI infrastructure.”
Humain has stepped up activity in recent months as Saudi Arabia moves to secure capacity to support artificial intelligence workloads.
In December, the company awarded Al Moammar Information Systems Co. a contract to design and build a data center dedicated to AI technologies.
It has also partnered with Saudi Telecom Co. to establish a joint venture to develop and operate AI-focused data centers in the Kingdom.
According to a Tadawul filing, Humain will hold a 51 percent stake in the joint venture, while stc will own the remaining 49 percent. The data center will be developed through stc’s subsidiary Digital Data and Communications Centers, also known as center3.
The facility will feature advanced infrastructure capable of supporting up to 1 gigawatt of power, starting with an initial capacity of 250 MW, subject to customer demand.
