Humain and Nvidia: Developing 500MW AI Data Centres
As competition for AI infrastructure intensifies across the world, Gulf nations are positioning themselves within the technology market through substantial investments.
Now, Saudi Arabia is intending to move beyond petroleum dependency through technology-focused initiatives under its Vision 2030 economic transformation programme.
The most recent advancement in this strategy involves Humain, the AI subsidiary established by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, which has formed a partnership with Nvidia, to construct extensive AI computing infrastructure within the Kingdom.
This collaboration is part of the Middle East's efforts to develop sovereign AI capabilities during a period when countries worldwide are competing to secure limited computing resources.
The global scarcity of advanced AI chips has created an environment where nations that secure access to substantial computing power gain competitive advantages in both economic development and technological self-determination.
As a result, Saudi Arabia's initiative follows comparable investments from neighbouring Gulf states including the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
Nvidia GB300 technology enabling computing capacity expansion
The partnership seeks to position Saudi Arabia as a global centre for AI development through coordinated investment in hardware, software platforms and workforce development programmes.
This arrangement also demonstrates the increasing recognition that AI infrastructure has evolved into a critical national asset, comparable to traditional utilities and transportation networks in terms of strategic importance.
Humain has committed to building AI computing facilities with a planned capacity of up to 500 megawatts – and these facilities will be powered by several hundred thousand Nvidia GPU over a five-year period.
The first phase of the project will deploy an 18,000-unit Nvidia GB300 Grace Blackwell AI supercomputer using Nvidia InfiniBand networking technology, which is a communications standard used in high-performance computing environments that provides connections between systems with high throughput and low latency.
These facilities will provide the foundation for training and deploying sovereign AI models, which are AI systems developed and controlled within national boundaries rather than relying on foreign technology providers.
“AI, like electricity and internet, is essential infrastructure for every nation,” says Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia.
“Together with Humain, we are building AI infrastructure for the people and companies of Saudi Arabia to realise the bold vision of the Kingdom.”
How Nvidia’s platform implementation is expanding physical AI applications
The partnership includes deployment of the Nvidia Omniverse platform as a multi-tenant system that enables different three-dimensional design tools to function together through a shared virtual space, allowing for collaborative development across various software applications.
This technology will support what the companies describe as 'physical AI' applications, which integrate AI with robotics and simulation capabilities to create digital twins of physical environments.
The implementation aims to enhance operations in sectors including manufacturing, logistics and energy through simulation and optimisation of physical environments – which allows organisations to test changes virtually before implementing them in the physical world, potentially reducing costs and risks.
“This collaboration with Humain marks a turning point, building the AI factories of the future, unlocking compute and powering the next era of physical AI,” says Abdullah Alswaha, Minister of Communications and Information Technology.
“This lays the groundwork for a new industrial revolution, anchored in advanced infrastructure, talent and global ambition. This is how Saudi Arabia continues to lead as a partner of choice in shaping the future of AI.”
“Our partnership with Nvidia is a bold step forward in realising the Kingdom's ambitions to lead in AI and advanced digital infrastructure,” says Tareq Amin, CEO of Humain.
“Together, we are building the capacity, capability and a new globally enabled community to shape a future powered by intelligent technology and empowered people.”
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