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A slew of tech deals are flying in this week, largely revolving around new AI facilities in Saudi Arabia. Elon Musk is working with Saudi state-backed AI firm HUMAIN on a new data center for xAI in the kingdom, powered by Nvidia chips, he said Wednesday at the US-Saudi Investment Forum. Starting with 50 megawatts of energy usage, with ambitions to reach 500 megawatts, it would be the company’s first data center outside the US.
AWS reached a similar deal with HUMAIN on a 100 megawatt facility, with the goal of growing it to 1 gigawatt, Saudi Arabia’s communications and information technology minister said Wednesday. AMD, Cisco, and HUMAIN also announced plans for a 1-gigawatt data center in the kingdom, starting with 100 megawatts next year. And HUMAIN separately announced funding with Luma that involves moving a large part of its data infrastructure to the kingdom.
Beyond data centers, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang also announced it is working with Saudi Arabia to build supercomputers that will control quantum computers and power their compute-heavy error correction systems.
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As part of the dealmaking frenzy, the US is set to approve the sale of advanced AI chips to Saudi Arabia, Semafor reported. Securing access to US semiconductors is crucial for Saudi Arabia’s plan to pitch itself as a global AI hub: Of the $1 trillion Saudi investment pledge, the crown prince said $50 billion could come just from the kingdom’s AI infrastructure buildout. More tech deals are expected to continue throughout the day, with executives from Chevron, Google, Pfizer, and Qualcomm slated to speak.