Global AI, a US tech firm, plans to collaborate with a Saudi Arabian artificial intelligence venture, Humain, in an agreement expected to be worth billions of dollars, according to a person familiar with the mattter.
The pact is an example of the deals President Donald Trump plans to highlight during his visit to the Middle East, focused on boosting trade and investment.
The US company, established a little over a year ago by a team of tech industry veterans, is building a data center in New York that will utilize chips developed by Nvidia Corp., with plans for more centers. Global AI pitches itself as offering more secure and cost-effective AI infrastructure for private companies and sovereign nations than US cloud computing firms.
Under the agreement, likely worth billions over multiple phases of the project, Humain would have access to Global AI’s US data centers and eventually a center in Saudi Arabia, subject to US approval.
Humain is owned by the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund, with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman as its chairman. The Saudi firm was launched ahead of Trump’s visit and is intended to serve as an AI hub for sectors such as energy, health care, manufacturing and financial services. It will provide data centers, AI infrastructure and cloud capabilities.
Saudi Arabia is seeking greater access to US artificial intelligence technology with the aim of becoming a technology hub, part of a sweeping diversification plan the Gulf nation is undertaking that aims to modernize its economy and boost sources of income other than oil.
Some of those growth plans have been hampered by US restrictions on exports of the latest AI chips. The Trump administration is preparing to announce a deal granting Saudi Arabia more access to advanced semiconductors, paving the way for increased data-center capacity in the nation, according to people familiar with the matter.
Trump, who arrived in Riyadh early Tuesday, has made attracting foreign investment a centerpiece of the trip, which also includes stops in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The US president is looking to tap the oil- and gas-rich nations in the region — and their sovereign wealth funds — to achieve those aims.
While the crown prince has pledged to boost investment in the US by $600 billion, Trump has expressed hope he can convince the de facto Saudi leader to raise that figure above $1 trillion. The two, who have a longstanding relationship, are expected to use Trump’s visit to unveil dozens of deals, with AI prominent on the agenda.
Global AI Chairman John Kelly, a former IBM Corp. executive, credited the Trump administration with pushing to secure foreign investments in the tech industry.
“I’ve never seen an administration pull so hard to help industry on something like this,” Kelly said in an interview. Sami Issa, who has had a long career in tech, serves as the company CEO.
Global AI, which has additional investors, said the New York center should be open to customers in June. They plan to build more centers in the US and will eventually work with the Saudis to build in the kingdom, subject to US regulations.
“Our fundamental insight is to build data centers where companies and countries can use them privately and securely, and the computers aren’t shared with anybody else,” said Kelly. “So if you’re a bank and you’re doing risk, or you’re a health care organization with really sensitive data, or pharma company with drug discovery, or a country that doesn’t want their data being captured by another country.”
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