A unit of the Saudi technology firm STC Group and the artificial intelligence company Humain have teamed up to develop and build data centres in the kingdom, supporting Saudi Arabia’s push to become a regional hub for AI.
The agreement between STC's digital infrastructure subsidiary center3 and Humain includes building infrastructure that is planned to host up to 1GW of AI workloads and cater to the growing demand for AI requirements and applications, Riyadh's STC said in a statement on Thursday. The companies did not disclose the value of the development.
Humain, which is backed by Saudi Arabia's sovereign Public Investment Fund, had recently launched a new agentic AI operating system. Its partnership highlights the kingdom’s growing ambitions to become a global hub for AI and digital infrastructure.
“This joint venture with Humain reinforces our commitment to enabling the region’s digital future … we are creating the right foundation to strengthen the region’s capacity to host next-generation AI workloads,” said Olayan Alwetaid, chief executive of STC Group.
Gulf states have steadily increased spend on data centres, which are seen as an anchor for non-oil focused economic growth. Significant investment in data centres and high-performance computing systems are driving AI readiness, with Saudi Arabia and the UAE emerging as regional and even global leaders, the World Bank said in a report earlier this month.
It also reflects a broader regional race to integrate AI into core business systems, as Gulf economies invest in automation technologies to boost productivity and reduce operational costs.
Saudi Arabia, the Arab world's largest economy, has growing ambitions to become a global hub for AI and digital infrastructure. The UAE is building the world's biggest data centre, Stargate, while Qatar recently established Qai, an AI company that will invest in, develop and manage AI infrastructure in the country and abroad.
“AI at scale requires purpose-built compute, efficiency and resilience … [and needs] infrastructure capable of meeting the most demanding workloads while designed to support future advancements,” said Tareq Amin, chief executive of Humain.
Humain has formed partnerships with EY and US AI firms Groq and Replit to support a national initiative aimed at developing AI skills across Saudi Arabia.
Center3 works with STC to expand Saudi Arabia’s role in international data connectivity, linking Europe, Asia and Africa, and developing the country as a Mena data centre hub, according to its website.
