Saudi Arabia’s government-supported artificial intelligence company Humain has revealed a fresh collaboration with Nvidia, following the approval from US officials for the sale of advanced microchips to the Gulf nation.
The announcement coincided with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to Washington this week, during which he finalized a deal to procure F35 fighter jets, endorsed a civil nuclear energy pact, and elevated the kingdom to a major non-NATO ally status.
The Nvidia agreement was unveiled as the crown prince and President Donald Trump presided over a Saudi-US business forum on Wednesday, declaring a “strategic artificial intelligence partnership” between the two nations.
Humain and Nvidia’s deal paves the way for an enhanced strategic alliance, with intentions to implement up to 600,000 of Nvidia’s latest AI infrastructure technologies in the next three years, according to a statement from Humain.
“In addition to establishing Nvidia-powered data centers within Saudi Arabia, Humain aims to extend its reach to AI data centers in the United States utilizing Nvidia AI technology,” the statement further elaborated.
The announcement aligns with the US Department of Commerce’s green light for the export of advanced Nvidia chips to Humain and G42, an AI firm headquartered in the United Arab Emirates.
The export of Nvidia’s most potent chips is regulated by US authorities due to concerns that they could be redirected to benefit its Chinese counterpart.
Under the approved plan, both companies can acquire a maximum of 35,000 Nvidia Blackwell chips each, as per the department’s guidelines.
Humain, established in May, is financially backed by Saudi Arabia’s influential Public Investment Fund, which has been instrumental in funding the kingdom’s significant gigaprojects aimed at diversifying its economy beyond oil dependence.
Meanwhile, Nvidia surpassed market expectations in its latest earnings report, driven by the strong demand for its cutting-edge chips powering artificial intelligence applications.
G42 is currently in the process of constructing a one gigawatt capacity data center in the UAE for generative-AI specialist OpenAI, in collaboration with Oracle, Cisco, Nvidia, and SoftBank.