Saudi Startup HUMAIN and AMD Forge $10b AI Infrastructure Joint Venture
Humain also Anounces Strategic Partnerships with Nvidia, AWS
In a landmark move that signals a new era of global artificial intelligence (AI) collaboration, US semiconductor giant AMD and Saudi Arabia’s newly launched AI enterprise HUMAIN have announced a $10 billion joint venture to build one of the world’s most advanced and open AI infrastructure platforms. The multi-year partnership aims to deploy 500 megawatts (MW) of AI compute capacity over the next five years, with data centers initially in Saudi Arabia and expansion planned for the United States and beyond.
On the same day, NVIDIA also announced that HUMAIN is making a major investment to build AI factories in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with a projected capacity of up to 500 megawatts powered by several hundred thousand of NVIDIA’s most advanced GPUs over the next five years. The first phase of deployment will be an 18,000 NVIDIA GB300 Grace Blackwell AI supercomputer with NVIDIA InfiniBand networking, according to the press release.
Separately, Humain also made a joint announcement with AWS to invest $5 billion-plus in a strategic partnership to build a groundbreaking “AI Zone” in the Kingdom.
A Strategic Leap for Strategic Ambitions
HUMAIN, launched under the auspices of the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) and chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is designed to operate across the entire AI value chain. Its mandate: to position Saudi Arabia as a global AI hub by offering next-generation data centers, robust cloud infrastructure, and advanced AI models-including a powerful multimodal Arabic large language model. The company will deliver AI-native platforms spanning infrastructure, cloud, data, models, and applications, with a focus on sectors such as energy, healthcare, manufacturing, and financial services.
This joint venture is the first of its kind between a sovereign nation and a global AI infrastructure leader, marking a shift from traditional technology procurement to strategic, co-developed platforms. HUMAIN will oversee end-to-end delivery, including hyperscale data centers, sustainable power systems, and global fiber interconnects.
AMD’s Full-Stack Compute at the Core
AMD, a leader in high-performance and adaptive computing, will provide the full spectrum of its AI compute portfolio-including CPUs, GPUs, DPUs, and its ROCm open software ecosystem-to power the new infrastructure. The collaboration will leverage AMD’s Instinct™ GPUs, EPYC™ CPUs, Pensando™ DPUs, and Ryzen™ AI for edge computing, all orchestrated through the ROCm open software stack for maximum flexibility and compatibility with industry-standard AI frameworks5.
According to AMD CEO Lisa Su, “Our investment with HUMAIN is a significant milestone in advancing global AI infrastructure. Together, we are building a globally significant AI platform that delivers performance, openness and reach at unprecedented levels”.
Global Reach, Local Impact
The venture’s initial phase will see the rollout of 50MW of computing power by Q4 2025, scaling to at least 500MW within five years, with multi-exaflop capacity targeted by early 20265. This infrastructure will serve sovereign, enterprise, and AI lab customers worldwide, democratizing access to advanced AI compute resources and supporting both local innovation and global AI development.
The partnership is expected to create hundreds of direct jobs and thousands of indirect roles in Saudi Arabia and internationally, further cementing the Kingdom’s position as a magnet for global AI talent and investment.
A New Model for Sovereign AI
Industry observers note that the AMD-HUMAIN venture could inspire a new wave of public-private AI partnerships, as nations seek to secure digital sovereignty and resilience through direct collaboration with technology leaders. The deal also aligns with Saudi Arabia’s broader Vision 2030 goals, leveraging AI as a driver of economic diversification and technological transformation.
Keith Strier, AMD’s Senior Vice President of Global AI Markets, described the partnership as “so unique it is likely to inspire a new wave of public and private sector sovereign AI collaborations across the world”.
Significance of the AMD-HUMAIN Joint Venture for AMD’s Competitiveness
Strengthening AMD’s Position Against Nvidia and Intel
The $10 billion joint venture with HUMAIN is a pivotal move for AMD, significantly enhancing its competitiveness in the global AI infrastructure market relative to Nvidia and Intel.
Broader Strategic Impacts
Global Reach and Sovereign Partnerships: The partnership with HUMAIN, backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, gives AMD a unique foothold in sovereign AI infrastructure, a domain where Nvidia and Intel have less visibility. This could open doors to further government and enterprise deals worldwide.
Revenue Growth Potential: Analysts project AMD’s AI-related revenue to surge to $9.5 billion in 2025, up from $5.2 billion, driven by strong demand for its AI hardware and the ramp-up of large-scale projects like the HUMAIN venture. This growth trajectory positions AMD to close the gap with Nvidia, whose data center revenues are currently much higher but face increasing competition.
Challenges Remain
Software Ecosystem: Despite hardware advances, AMD’s software stack still lags behind Nvidia’s CUDA in terms of developer adoption and maturity. The HUMAIN venture’s focus on the open ROCm ecosystem is a strategic attempt to address this gap, but widespread industry adoption will take time.
Market Fragmentation: The rise of custom silicon by cloud providers and the growing adoption of ARM-based solutions add complexity to the competitive landscape, requiring AMD to continually innovate and differentiate its offerings.
The AMD-HUMAIN joint venture is a transformative step that strengthens AMD’s position against Nvidia by scaling open, high-performance AI infrastructure globally, and further distances AMD from Intel in both AI and data center markets. While challenges remain, especially in software, the deal signals AMD’s growing influence and ambition in the rapidly evolving AI hardware ecosystem.
Reference
https://ir.amd.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/1250/amd-and-humain-form-strategic-10b-collaboration-to-advance-global-ai
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-05-13/saudi-arabia-amd-plan-10-billion-ai-deployment-of-ai-gear
https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/company-news/amazon-aws-humain-ai-investment-in-saudi-arabia
https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/humain-and-nvidia-announce-strategic-partnership-to-build-ai-factories-of-the-future-in-saudi-arabia
https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/artificial-intelligence-market-74851580.html