Saudi Arabia: technology profile

AI

Saudi Arabia's AI effort runs through a government authority and a company owned by its sovereign wealth fund. The Saudi Data & AI Authority (SDAIA) is linked directly to the prime minister. It sets the national direction and oversees the National Strategy for Data & AI, approved by King Salman on July 17, 2020. Its targets include:

• ranking among the top 15 countries in AI
• attracting about 75 billion Saudi riyals of data and AI investment
• creating more than 300 startups

The Public Investment Fund (PIF), the kingdom's sovereign wealth fund, announced Humain on May 12, 2025, with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as chair. Humain is to provide data centers, cloud services and AI models, including Arabic language models. Humain's roadmap calls for 1.9 gigawatts (GW) of AI computing capacity by 2030 and more than 6 GW by 2034, Fortune reported in September 2026. The same article cited official Saudi data showing national data center capacity grew from 68 megawatts (MW) in 2021 to 467 MW in the first quarter of 2026.

The state news agency said the LEAP 2026 conference in Riyadh produced announcements above $15 billion on its opening day. It said they included Humain agreements with Together AI for a 250 MW data center and with AMD for an initial 25 MW. It said the AMD agreement targets 250 MW over two to three years. Amazon Web Services said its first Saudi cloud region is on track to open in December 2026, representing more than $5.3 billion of planned investment. Humain and DataVolt are developing about 100 MW at Oxagon in NEOM, which NEOM said is expected to be available in 2028, Reuters reported. Announced totals are commitments, not money spent.

Chips and hardware

Humain's plans rest on chips from US companies. In May 2025, Nvidia said Humain would build AI factories of up to 500 MW over five years. It said they would use several hundred thousand of its most advanced graphics processors, starting with a supercomputer built on 18,000 GB300 Grace Blackwell units. AWS said it will offer up to 50 MW of capacity with Humain by 2028, using Amazon's Trainium chips alongside Nvidia hardware.

A November 2025 White House fact sheet said both governments signed an AI memorandum of understanding intended to give the kingdom access to American AI systems while protecting US technology. A US rule gave the UAE Country Group A:5 export status in July 2026. As of September 2026, Saudi Arabia did not have it, Mohammed Soliman of McLarty Associates told Fortune.

At home, the Research, Development and Innovation Authority held an investment forum in October 2024 for the National Semiconductor Hub. The state news agency says the program attracts talent and provides incentives and funding.

Robots and autonomy

The Transport General Authority and Uber signed an agreement in May 2025 to introduce self-driving rides, initially with drivers on board. China's WeRide said in March 2026 that its robotaxi fleet in Riyadh was in regular commercial operation. The Saudi Press Agency reported that Humain partnered with Applied Intuition at LEAP 2026 to deploy thousands of autonomous trucks in the kingdom by 2030.

Energy technology

Official statistics put Saudi Arabia's commissioned renewable capacity at 6,551 MW at the end of 2024, of which 6,151 MW was solar.

Saudi Arabia and the United States signed an agreement on peaceful nuclear cooperation in July 2026, following a joint declaration in November 2025. The pact, known as a 123 Agreement, is in a 90-day Senate review window that opened on September 14. Reuters reported on October 2, 2026 that senators with proliferation concerns said they had secured a vote and expect it before December 13. Critics say the text does not bar uranium enrichment or reprocessing. The Trump administration says the deal meets the nonproliferation requirements of US law.

What to watch

• The Senate vote on the nuclear agreement, which senators said they expect before December 13, 2026.
• Financing. Fortune reported that Humain has begun preparing for a stock market listing. It said Humain's chief executive said in October 2025 that he aims to list in Saudi Arabia and New York by 2029.
• Delivery. Whether the AWS region opens in December 2026 as planned, and how much of the announced capacity is built.
• Security. Reuters reported in September 2026 that several Gulf countries still faced threats from the Iran war. Humain told Bloomberg its timeline remains on track, according to Fortune.