Saudi Arabia wants to be world's third-largest AI provider after the U.S. and China

Saudi Arabia is aiming to position itself as one of the world’s leading providers of artificial intelligence, according to Tareq Amin, CEO of the Saudi AI company Humain.

Ambition to Compete Globally

“Our ambition is very clear. We want to be the third-largest AI provider in the world, behind the United States and China,” Amin told CNBC’s Access Middle East in a recent interview. The comments highlight Saudi Arabia’s strategy to build out its digital and technological infrastructure as part of its broader economic transformation plan.

Building Infrastructure

Earlier this week, Amin announced that Humain had begun construction on its first data centers in the Kingdom. These facilities are expected to be operational by early next year and will rely on advanced semiconductors imported from the United States. Amin emphasized that significant capital is being invested to lay the foundation for long-term growth in AI capacity.

New Arabic AI Platform

Humain also unveiled Saudi Arabia’s first Arabic-language conversational AI application, HUMAIN Chat, designed to cater to local and regional users while expanding the reach of AI services in the Arabic-speaking world.

Strategic Investments

In his interview, Amin stressed that the company’s focus is not just on rapid expansion but on building strategically. “My investments are all strategic in nature. Any startup that is really addressing my number one requirement ... the joint IP creation, the localization, workload consumptions in Saudi, is really where we’re going and investing capital in,” he said.