Amazon Web Services (AWS) has forged an alliance with HUMAIN, an artificial intelligence company backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, to invest more than $5 billion in the creation of an innovative AI Zone within the Kingdom.
The ambitious project aims to accelerate the development and deployment of AI technologies domestically and internationally, reinforcing Saudi Arabia’s vision to emerge as a global leader in artificial intelligence.
The AI Zone will be equipped with state-of-the-art AWS AI infrastructure, including advanced UltraCluster networks and servers, alongside cloud services such as Amazon SageMaker, Amazon Bedrock, and Amazon Q. These resources will support the development, training, and deployment of AI applications across various sectors.
HUMAIN intends to make use of these AWS technologies to develop AI solutions tailored for government entities, enterprises, and startups, while also establishing a unified AI agent marketplace to streamline AI adoption across public services in the Gulf region.
This initiative builds on AWS’s prior commitment to invest approximately $5.3 billion in establishing a dedicated AWS cloud region in Saudi Arabia, which is expected to become operational by 2026. The AI Zone represents an additional investment that will expand the Kingdom’s AI infrastructure and innovation ecosystem.
Aligned with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, the partnership emphasises digital transformation and economic diversification through AI innovation. The AI Zone will facilitate the development of large language models (LLMs), including Arabic-specific models, to promote AI integration in critical sectors such as healthcare, education, energy, and government services.
The alliance could bolster Saudi Arabia’s growing startup ecosystem by providing entrepreneurs with access to AWS’s comprehensive cloud tools and programmes, including AWS Activate. This support comes at a pivotal time, as Saudi startups attracted a record $750 million in venture capital funding in 2024, the largest amount in the Middle East and North Africa region.
AWS’s extensive experience in supporting over 330,000 startups worldwide is expected to energise the Kingdom’s AI-driven entrepreneurial industry.
Senior Saudi officials have expressed strong endorsement of the initiative. Abdullah Alswaha, minister of Communications and Information Technology, noted the partnership’s role in “laying the foundation for the intelligent era” and advancing Saudi Arabia’s position as a global AI hub.
“This collaboration to build an AI Zone in Saudi Arabia will enable innovations across all industries using AWS’s advanced AI offerings. Together, we will empower customers with cost-effective and secure cloud technologies, fuel innovation and economic growth across the nation, and enable HUMAIN to appeal to customers globally,” said Matt Garman, CEO of AWS.