Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has announced a major deal to supply 18,000 AI GPUs to Humain, Saudi Arabia’s newly launched state-sponsored artificial intelligence company. The announcement was made during the Saudi-US Investment Forum in Riyadh, coinciding with President Donald Trump’s visit to the kingdom.
The GPUs will support the construction of a 500-megawatt AI data center, furthering Saudi Arabia’s efforts to become a global leader in advanced technology. The transaction was made possible after the Biden administration canceled proposed AI diffusion export rules, which would have placed Saudi Arabia under strict Tier 2 restrictions. Those rules aimed to limit the spread of sensitive AI hardware to foreign nations, particularly those with close ties to strategic competitors like China.
Huang praised Saudi Arabia’s initiative, calling it a visionary step toward building robust AI infrastructure. He noted the country’s vast energy resources as a valuable asset in supporting large-scale computing demands. Humain, chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and backed by the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund, plans to develop world-class AI services, infrastructure, and a powerful Arabic-language large language model.
The deal significantly enhances Saudi Arabia’s presence in the global AI industry. With the kingdom aiming to challenge dominant players like the U.S. and China, the use of American-made hardware will be central to its strategy. Concerns remain about the security implications of such a transfer, particularly regarding the risk that advanced AI GPUs could be rerouted to adversarial nations, including China.
The U.S. originally crafted the proposed export rules to prevent just such proliferation. Their reversal opens the door to deeper tech partnerships between U.S. companies and Gulf allies. The Humain project underscores the growing complexity of global AI geopolitics, where innovation, commerce, and national security increasingly intersect.
