Saudi Arabia’s state-backed artificial intelligence firm Humain has announced a new partnership with Nvidia, as US officials cleared the way for the sale of advanced microchips to the Gulf kingdom.
The announcement came as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visited Washington this week, where the heir to the Saudi throne secured a deal to purchase F35 fighter jets, inked a civil nuclear energy agreement, and saw the kingdom named a major non-NATO ally.
The Nvidia deal was announced while the crown prince and President Donald Trump oversaw a Saudi-US business forum on Wednesday as the two countries said they had signed a “strategic artificial intelligence partnership”.
The deal between Humain and Nvidia laid the foundation for an “expanded strategic partnership” between the two companies with plans “to deploy up to 600,000 of Nvidia’s latest AI infrastructure technologies over the next three years”, Humain said in a statement.
“In addition to establishing Nvidia-powered data centers in Saudi Arabia, Humain is expanding its operations to AI data centers in the United States powered by Nvidia AI,” it said.
The announcement came as the US Department of Commerce said it had approved the export of advanced Nvidia chips to Humain and G42 — an AI firm based in the United Arab Emirates.
The export of the California firm’s most powerful chips is controlled by US authorities, who fear they could be diverted for the benefit of its Chinese rival.
Both companies will be able to purchase the equivalent of up to 35,000 Nvidia Blackwell chips in accordance with the plan, according to the department.
Humain, launched in May, is bankrolled by Saudi’s powerful Public Investment Fund, which has played a key role in financing the kingdom’s so-called gigaprojects — major developments aimed at boosting and diversifying its oil-reliant economy.
On Wednesday, Nvidia beat Wall Street’s expectations during its latest earnings report, thanks to the fierce demand for its sophisticated chips that power artificial intelligence.
G42 is currently building a data center in the UAE with a capacity of one gigawatt for generative-AI specialist OpenAI, in partnership with Oracle, Cisco, Nvidia, and SoftBank.
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