Saudi Arabia plans more than 14GW of AI computing capacity

Dubai: Saudi Arabia is working with the private sector to develop more than 14 gigawatts of computing capacity as it builds an integrated model aimed at attracting artificial intelligence companies and helping them scale, the kingdom’s communications minister said.

Speaking at the opening of the fourth Frontier Leaders Forum 2026 in Silicon Valley, California, Abdullah Al Swaha, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, said Saudi Arabia’s approach centres on three elements: computing capacity, capital and access to customers.

The forum, held under the theme “AI Forward: A Global Frontier”, brought together leaders from artificial intelligence, technology, investment, venture capital and innovation from the United States and other markets.

Al Swaha pointed to Groq as an example of the model, saying Saudi Arabia had been among the company’s early supporters by giving it access to major customers, investing in the business and creating an environment that allowed it to expand.

He said the kingdom now aims to replicate that experience with a new generation of global AI companies.

The more than 14GW of computing capacity being developed with the private sector is intended to meet the demands of advanced AI companies, reduce operating costs and improve infrastructure efficiency, Al Swaha added.

He also highlighted the kingdom’s growing use of generative, agentic and physical AI, including applications in healthcare, AI agents supporting government employees and autonomous systems in transport and logistics.

Al Swaha noted that Saudi Arabia would continue strengthening its partnership with Silicon Valley through talent, technology and trust, while providing the computing capacity, customers and capital needed to help the next generation of AI companies grow globally.

During his visit, Al Swaha held a series of meetings focused on expanding AI investment, developing advanced models and applications, and linking them with the infrastructure and computing capacity being developed by HUMAIN.

He met Hemant Taneja, chief executive of General Catalyst, to discuss expanding the company’s investments in AI and advanced technologies in Saudi Arabia and enabling portfolio companies to deploy applied AI solutions using HUMAIN’s computing capacity in priority sectors.

Al Swaha also met Mark McQuade, founder and chief executive of Arcee AI, to discuss wider use of the company’s open Trinity models and customised enterprise models through HUMAIN’s infrastructure, including systems that can operate in private and cloud environments.

In a meeting with Gabriel Kerman, co-founder and chief executive of Engramme, discussions focused on AI memory and continuous-learning applications that could allow organisations to build models capable of learning from their own knowledge and context.

Infrastructure was also a central theme of talks with Charles Liang, founder and chief executive of Supermicro, including accelerating the deployment of AI factory solutions through HUMAIN’s infrastructure and expanding the use of integrated systems, liquid cooling and high-density infrastructure to improve energy efficiency.

Al Swaha discussed high-performance AI networking with Baron Carr, chief executive of Upscale AI, focusing on improving connectivity between accelerators, memory and storage systems.

He also met Rajeev Khemani, co-founder and chief executive of Velaura AI, to discuss integrating energy-efficient computing technologies into HUMAIN’s infrastructure to improve AI data centre efficiency and support the expansion of practical AI applications and autonomous systems.