US–Saudi Strategic AI Partnership signed
Deal clears path for US AI chip exports, Saudi investment in US AI ecosystem
#SaudiArabia #bilaterals – Saudi Arabia and the United States have signed a Strategic Artificial Intelligence Partnership that is expected to unlock US high-end semiconductor exports to the Kingdom and trigger new Saudi investment into the US technology ecosystem. Signed by Highness Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah Al Saud, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the agreement covers semiconductor supply, AI infrastructure, national capability building, and high-value cross-border investment aimed at long-term economic security, innovation, and productivity growth.
SO WHAT? – This pact provides the policy framework needed for the technology, infrastructure and foreign direct investment deals agreed during President Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia in May. The president signaled that he was reversing Biden-era US export restrictions on AI chip exports and was prepared to resume large-scale export of high-end AI chips to Saudi Arabia and the UAE as a result. However, final agreements and final US policy related to the Gulf exports has dragged on for longer than many expected. The new agreement aligns with Trump’s new investment-linked export rules, making the agreement a gateway for Saudi capital into US AI ventures and for US technology to help scale Saudi AI infrastructure.
Here are some key points regarding the agreement:
Saudi Arabia and the United States have signed a Strategic Artificial Intelligence Partnership that is expected to open the flow of high-end US AI chip exports to the Kingdom. The agreement aligns with the White House’s policy requirement that easing of export controls must be paired with foreign direct investment deals from Gulf partners.
The partnership covers supply of advanced semiconductors, development of AI applications, AI infrastructure build-out, and national workforce capability programmes, creating a multi-pillar framework for bilateral technology cooperation.
Saudi Arabia plans to leverage its land availability, energy resources, and geographic position to establish AI and cloud-computing clusters able to serve local, regional, and global demand, strengthening its role as a technology hub.
The United States aims to use its technology ecosystem to accelerate economic growth through deeper ties with Saudi organisations and investors, creating a pathway to attract capital into US AI startups, semiconductor firms, and research institutions.
A $900 million Series C funding round for US video AI startup Luma AI led by Saudi national AI company HUMAIN has already been announced this week, including participation from AMD Ventures and existing US venture investors.
The Strategic Artificial Intelligence Partnership builds on President Trump’s May announcement to ease microchip export restrictions to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, subject to progress on investment-related agreements, making this signing a critical step toward regulatory clearance.
The agreement will support innovation in sectors such as health, education, energy, mining, and transportation, as both governments aim to embed AI systems into high-value industries central to long-term economic diversification.
The signing marks a new milestone in Saudi–US economic security cooperation, tying AI development to wider strategic priorities including productivity, national capabilities, and shared technological resilience.
The partnership follows the US–UAE AI Acceleration Partnership announced earlier this year, signaling a broader US strategy to structure AI cooperation with Gulf economies through linked investment and technology commitments.
ZOOM OUT - Saudi Arabia is deploying unprecedented capital to build large-scale AI infrastructure, partnering with major US AI infrastructure companies AMD, Groq, NVIDIA and Qualcomm. The $10 billion AMD–HUMAIN joint venture announced during US President Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia in May, aims to deliver 6GW of AI compute by 2034. The venture will bring on 100MW online by early 2026 and plans to add 50MW each quarter, supported by two major campuses housing 11 data centres of 200MW each. It was announced this week that HUMAIN investment Luma AI will take the full 100MW compute capacity of the venture’s first data centre phase. The venture is illustrative of how rapidly the Kingdom is scaling capacity to serve global AI and cloud-computing demand.
[Written and edited with the assistance of AI]
LINK
Joint USA-Saudi Arabia statement - 19-Nov-25 (US Dept. State)
Read more about US-Saudi AI technology deals:
Luma AI secures $900M in Series C round led by HUMAIN (Middle East AI News)
HUMAIN, Qualcomm to deploy AI inferencing (Middle East AI News)
HUMAIN & AMD target 6GW of AI compute by 2034 (Middle East AI News)
Qualcomm and HUMAIN forge Saudi AI data centre deal (Middle East AI News)
Saudi forms AI-focused $10B joint venture with AMD (Middle East AI News)
Saudi to build 500MW AI factories with NVIDIA tech (Middle East AI News)