Saudi Arabia has established a new artificial intelligence company called Humain, led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Trump visited the country and brought with him tech personalities such as Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and Mark Zuckerberg to attend a major investment meeting. Saudi Arabia is seriously trying to overcome its dependence on oil and become a technological superpower. The meeting was so cordial that Trump did not once complain that bin Salman was not wearing a suit…
This time, the difference in clothing does not matter… 😎
With this simple trick, the Saudis are getting around the problem of how to deal with their own technological handicap. Arabia does not have its own proper AI model, nor does it have any horses at the starting line, yet it perceives AI as a strategically important issue for itself. It solved this with the superiority of a multi-billion dollar investment fund and found some friends.
Let’s look at a few points:
The new Saudi artificial intelligence company Humain is owned by a Saudi Arabian public investment fund worth $940 billion, chaired by the crown prince. It will build data centers, computing systems, and cloud capacity across Saudi Arabia.
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It focuses on developing artificial intelligence models in Arabic for local needs.
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It is part of the Vision 2030 plan to reduce the country’s dependence on oil.
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It will serve both Saudi Arabia and the wider Middle East region.
Humain was announced at the highest political and technological meetings in Saudi Arabia:
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Former President Trump’s visit as part of a three-day trip to the Persian Gulf countries
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Participation of Elon Musk (Tesla/X), Sam Altman (OpenAI) and Mark Zuckerberg (Meta)
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Major investment forum announcing deals worth billions of dollars
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US Treasury Department creates “fast-track process” for Saudi investments in US technology
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Partnerships in artificial intelligence and defense come to the fore at meetings
Saudi Arabia increases ties with the US
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Saudi Arabia has pledged $600 billion in investments in the US over the next four years, which Donald Trump was quick to tout as a major achievement.
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The United Arab Emirates has established G42 with a $1.5 billion investment from Microsoft
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Saudi company Alat has pledged $100 billion in investments in AI hardware by 2030
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Gulf countries are using their oil wealth to finance technological progress
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Partnerships are being formed with US companies such as Groq and Cerebras
Why is this important for everyone?
Massive investment in AI in the Persian Gulf will change the global balance of power in advanced technologies. Giant data centers will be built in the Gulf, AI will learn Arabic properly, and the SA and US will become more interconnected. Thanks to investments in the hundreds of billions of dollars, these oil-rich countries could become major AI powers that will change the way technology is developed and distributed. Whether this will be for the better or not remains to be seen, as the whole thing is still quite new.
