AWS, HUMAIN launch $5 billion AI Zone in Saudi Arabia
Strategic partnership, massive investment to create regional AI hub
#SaudiArabia #investmen - Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Saudi Arabia's newly formed national AI company HUMAIN have announced a pioneering partnership to build a $5 billion-plus AI Zone as a regional hub. The first-of-its-kind initiative will establish dedicated AWS AI infrastructure featuring world-class semiconductors, UltraCluster networks, and advanced services including SageMaker, Bedrock, and Amazon Q to accelerate the national AI journey.
SO WHAT? - One of a series of big AI infrastructure deals, this massive deal with the world’s largest cloud infrastructure provider is a significant escalation in Saudi Arabia's AI ambitions to become a global AI leader. With PwC forecasting that AI will contribute $130 billion to Saudi Arabia's economy by 2030, over 40% of the estimated contribution of AI to the Middle East, the new initiative guarantees the crucial infrastructure to underpin that growth.
Here are some key points about the annonucement:
Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund-owned national AI company HUMAIN have announced a pioneering partnership to build a first-of-its-kind $5 billion-plus "AI Zone", creating a regional hub.
The new AI Zone represents an additional investment beyond AWS's previously announced $5.3 billion infrastructure region in Saudi Arabia, which is slated to become available in 2026, demonstrating AWS's significantly increased commitment to the Kingdom's technological advancement.
AWS will deploy its advanced server and network infrastructure capabilities alongside AI and machine learning services including Amazon SageMaker AI, Amazon Bedrock, and Amazon Q, enabling Saudi organizations to develop and scale generative AI applications with enterprise-grade security and privacy.
HUMAIN plans to leverage AWS technologies to develop AI solutions for its customers and collaborate on creating a unified AI agent marketplace that will simplify discovery, deployment, and management of AI software for the Saudi government.
The partnership will accelerate the development of Large Language Models, including Arabic Large Language Models, such as ALLaM, aimed at driving AI adoption across the Gulf region and beyond, addressing a significant need for Arabic language AI capabilities.
Key sectors including government, healthcare, education, and energy will benefit from AI transformation, with use cases ranging from personalized learning experiences to early disease diagnosis and streamlined government administration.
AWS and HUMAIN will support Saudi Arabia's startup ecosystem through programs like AWS Activate, building on the Kingdom's growing venture capital success. Saudi startups secured $750 million in funding in 2024, the highest share across the Middle East and North Africa.
As part of its commitment to talent development, AWS is expanding training and certification programs with a pledge to train 100,000 Saudi citizens in cloud computing and generative AI through the Amazon Academy, the largest talent development program of its kind in the Middle East.
As announced last year, AWS has also launched the "AWS Saudi Arabia Women's Skills Initiative" aimed at training 10,000 women on AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials at no charge, supporting Saudi Arabia's goal of increasing women's participation in the workforce.
ZOOM OUT - The AWS-HUMAIN announcement builds upon AWS's existing significant commitment to Saudi Arabia announced last year. Furing the LEAP24 in Riyadh, the cloud giant pledged to invest $5.3 billion to launch an infrastructure region in the Kingdom by 2026. That initial investment aimed to provide developers, startups, and enterprises with enhanced capabilities for running applications directly from Saudi Arabia whilst ensuring data residency compliance. The 2024 announcement included plans for three Availability Zones, two innovation centres, and technical mentorship programmes for regional startups. So, the combined investment commitment from AWS in Saudi Arabia currently stands at $10.3 billion.
[Written and edited with the assistance of AI]