Saudi Arabia Expands Nvidia AI Computing Deal

Saudi Arabia’s Humain and Nvidia have agreed to develop 84 megawatts of AI computing capacity, covering about 27,000 graphics processing units across two deployment phases. The companies announced the deal at Nvidia’s GTC conference in Berlin on Thursday, October 22, 2026. It also includes infrastructure for an unidentified US client.

Two phases of computing capacity

The first phase comprises 14MW of Nvidia Blackwell HGX B300 systems, equivalent to about 6,000 GPUs. Deployment is due to begin in the fourth quarter of 2026. Humain will use the infrastructure to support its cloud customers, including AI companies, government entities and businesses.

From mid-2027, the companies plan to deploy a further 70MW of Nvidia’s next-generation Vera Rubin infrastructure, representing about 21,000 GPUs. They said the Vera Rubin projects still require final agreements and deployment plans.

Of the planned Vera Rubin capacity, 50MW will serve advanced AI workloads for an unidentified US client. Deployment is targeted to begin in June. The remaining 20MW will support Humain Cloud, with deployment expected to begin in July or August.

Humain chief executive Tareq Amin said: “We are moving quickly to bring the next generations of Nvidia-accelerated computing into Saudi Arabia at meaningful scale.” GPUs are processors used to train and run AI systems. Blackwell is Nvidia’s current generation of AI chips, while Vera Rubin is its successor, designed to handle more complex workloads faster and more efficiently.

A partnership backed by Saudi investment

The expanded deal builds on a partnership announced in May 2025 during US President Donald Trump’s visit to Riyadh. Nvidia then unveiled plans to supply Humain with hundreds of thousands of advanced AI chips over five years. The initial phase involved 18,000 Blackwell processors, within a broader plan to develop up to 500MW of AI computing capacity over five years.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman chairs Humain, which launched in May 2025 and belongs to the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund. The company plans to develop about 3GW of data centre capacity by 2030 and more than 6GW by 2034.

Competition and export approvals

Saudi Arabia is competing with the UAE to attract AI investment. In Abu Dhabi, G42, OpenAI and Oracle are developing Stargate UAE, a 1-gigawatt computing cluster that forms the first phase of a planned 5GW UAE-US AI campus. Nvidia is a technology partner there, too.

Both Gulf countries depend on US export approvals to obtain advanced AI chips. Washington’s technology restrictions therefore matter to their expansion plans.

The announcement came days after Saudi Arabia postponed its flagship Future Investment Initiative conference, scheduled for October 26-29, to next year. A Houthi attack on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport on October 10 prompted the postponement. The attack killed at least 13 people and injured more than 300. Amin was among the speakers scheduled to attend the conference, a platform for announcing investment agreements involving Saudi Arabia’s technology and infrastructure sectors. The FII Institute says the annual conference has helped secure $250 billion in signed agreements and investment pledges since its inception.