Saudi Arabia Embarks on AI Revolution with 18,000 Nvidia Chips in Historic Tech Partnership
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — In a deal poised to reshape the global AI landscape, Saudi Arabia has secured more than 18,000 of Nvidia’s cutting-edge Blackwell GB300 chips as part of a sweeping initiative to build a world-class AI ecosystem. Announced during the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum in Riyadh, the agreement marks one of the largest and most strategically significant deployments of next-gen AI hardware outside the United States and China.
The chips will be delivered to Humain, a newly launched artificial intelligence company fully backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF). The acquisition is part of a broader $10 billion investment into AI infrastructure, reflecting Saudi Arabia’s ambitions to emerge as a global leader in the field as part of its Vision 2030 strategy to diversify its oil-reliant economy.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang personally confirmed the delivery plans during the high-profile event, which included the presence of former U.S. President Donald Trump and top executives from leading American tech companies.
Nvidia’s Blackwell Chips to Power 500MW of AI Data Centers
The chips at the heart of the deal are Nvidia’s GB300 Blackwell GPUs, officially unveiled earlier this year and now regarded as the most powerful processors for training and deploying advanced AI models. The chips will be deployed across data centers in Saudi Arabia that will collectively offer 500 megawatts of computing capacity—comparable in scale to the largest AI infrastructure sites globally.
“Saudi Arabia is rich with energy, and it is now transforming that energy into computational power,” Huang said during his keynote. “These AI supercomputers—what we call AI factories—will be the foundation of tomorrow’s intelligence infrastructure.”
The deployment will enable Humain to train massive AI models, potentially rivaling capabilities found at OpenAI and Google DeepMind. Huang emphasized that this was just the beginning, as Humain intends to scale to several hundred thousand Nvidia GPUs in the future.
A Major Geopolitical and Technological Milestone
The announcement marks a critical moment in the geopolitical race for AI supremacy. With high-performance GPUs becoming increasingly rare and politically sensitive, this deal positions Saudi Arabia as a strategic hub for AI development, particularly at a time when global supply of advanced chips is tightly controlled due to U.S. export restrictions.
Nvidia shares surged over 5% following the announcement, underscoring the financial and symbolic weight of the agreement. The development also follows a recent policy shift by the U.S. Department of Commerce, which is moving away from complex export controls introduced during the Biden administration in favor of what it described as a “simpler, more agile framework.”
This policy realignment appears to have created an opening for American chipmakers to engage in large-scale exports to allies like Saudi Arabia, especially when balanced against national security considerations surrounding exports to rival states such as China.
Trump and Tech: A Platform for Strategic Alliances
Former President Donald Trump played a central role during the event, celebrating U.S. business partnerships in the Middle East and using the occasion to promote American leadership in emerging technologies.
Standing alongside Jensen Huang, Trump highlighted the deal as a triumph of U.S. innovation and diplomacy. Notably, he also commented on the absence of Apple CEO Tim Cook with a quip: “Tim Cook is not here, but you are,” directed at Huang—drawing light chuckles from the crowd.
Apple declined to respond to Trump’s comment, but the moment underscored the high-profile nature of the event and the strategic narrative being cultivated around U.S.-Saudi tech cooperation.
AMD Joins the AI Infrastructure Push
The AI development in Saudi Arabia is not limited to Nvidia. AMD, another U.S. semiconductor heavyweight, has also confirmed its participation in the initiative. The company stated that it will supply Humain with a share of the chips being used in the 500-megawatt buildout, which spans multiple phases and will span years.
AMD shares jumped nearly 4% following confirmation of their involvement. Industry analysts say this reflects a growing appetite for any semiconductor firm involved in AI acceleration infrastructure as global demand surges.
Humain, through its PIF backing, has committed $10 billion to the project, indicating one of the largest single capital outlays for AI infrastructure globally. This places Saudi Arabia among a very short list of nations with both the financial and strategic intent to build next-generation AI capacity from the ground up.
Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030: From Oil to Algorithms
The AI chip deal represents a cornerstone of Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia’s landmark blueprint to diversify its economy beyond fossil fuels and become a global innovation hub. With vast oil revenues and abundant renewable energy potential, the country has an unusual advantage—it can provide the massive energy resources needed to operate high-density AI data centers at scale.
Saudi Arabia is using that energy advantage as a bargaining chip to attract tech investments, partnerships, and talent. The Humain initiative is expected to create thousands of jobs, stimulate the local technology ecosystem, and provide new opportunities for research, startups, and education in AI.
“This partnership is not just about chips,” said a Saudi government official. “It’s about planting the seeds for an entirely new digital economy.”
Rising Concerns About Tech Sovereignty and Global AI Arms Race
While the Saudi-Nvidia deal is being hailed as a business success, it also stirs up broader conversations about technology sovereignty and global AI competition. Industry experts warn that these megadeals may escalate the AI arms race, particularly if other nations begin seeking similar infrastructure capabilities to avoid technological dependence on the U.S. or China.
At the same time, the American government must now grapple with the balance between promoting domestic chipmakers and preserving national security. Critics argue that exporting high-end GPUs to foreign nations—even allies—could have long-term consequences if not coupled with strict usage guidelines and security oversight.
Saudi Arabia’s Ascent in Global AI
With this latest deal, Saudi Arabia has vaulted into the ranks of elite AI powers. It joins the U.S., China, and a few EU countries in deploying significant AI computational capacity—only this time, powered by abundant energy and political will.
By turning natural resources into data-driven infrastructure, the kingdom is rewriting its role on the global stage—from oil exporter to digital innovator. The coming years will test how effectively this transition can occur and whether Saudi Arabia can evolve into a sustainable AI ecosystem that competes with the best.
For Nvidia and AMD, the implications are equally profound. As demand for AI chips skyrockets worldwide, these companies will continue playing pivotal roles in shaping which nations lead and which follow in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
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