Saudi Arabia is building extensive AI infrastructure by partnering with U.S. firms while also collaborating with Chinese technology companies. For instance, at the recent LEAP conference in Riyadh, state-backed HUMAIN unveiled Arabic AI technology based on a model from China’s MiniMax. Despite potential contradictions, Saudi Arabia is strategically maintaining relationships with both American and Chinese tech giants, leveraging its capital, energy resources, and geopolitical flexibility. This approach allows the country to control critical AI infrastructure, enabling it to benefit economically and strategically as major powers compete for influence in the region.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-15,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Saudi Arabia is constructing significant AI infrastructure, collaborating with both US firms and utilizing American chips; for instance, AWS alone has pledged $5.3 billion to build data centers in the kingdom. At the same time, during Riyadh’s recent LEAP conference, state-backed HUMAIN showcased Arabic technology based on a model from China’s MiniMax. This dual approach reflects Saudi Arabia's strategy of engaging with both the US and China AI ecosystems simultaneously.
The conventional perspective divides the global AI competition into two blocs: one led by the US, including companies like Nvidia, hyperscalers, and leading research labs; the other dominated by China, which has its own models, engineering capabilities, and a growing competitive stack. However, Saudi Arabia, along with the UAE and other Gulf countries, does not need to choose sides. Instead, they can benefit from being one of the few places where both ecosystems coexist.
Saudi Arabia’s strategy leverages its geopolitical flexibility, alongside advantages such as capital, energy resources, and land availability. HUMAIN is building its infrastructure using American technology while ensuring that Chinese frontier models will not be trained on computing capacity obtained through US export approvals.
Written for “AI Alliances and Global Betting” on 2026-09-17,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Saudi Arabia is building enormous AI infrastructure, partnering with US firms and using American chips — AWS alone has committed $5.3 billion to data centers in the kingdom.
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AWS → build → kingdom
Yet at Riyadh’s LEAP conference this month, state-backed HUMAIN unveiled Arabic technology built on a model from China’s MiniMax.
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HUMAIN → back → MiniMax
While this may seem as a contradiction, it’s more accurate to view it as a strategy.
uncertain
it → seem → strategy
The conventional view of the AI race splits the world into two blocs: the US, with Nvidia, the hyperscalers, and most of the leading frontier labs, on one side; and China, with its own models, engineering capacity, and increasingly competitive stack, on the other.
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view → split → other
Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and other Gulf countries don’t need to replicate either ecosystem.
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Arabia → need → ecosystem
Their value may lie in being among the few places where both can operate at once.
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both → lie → places
The Gulf has obvious advantages such as capital, energy, and land.
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Gulf → have → capital
Saudi Arabia is showing what that looks like in practice.
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that → show → practice
HUMAIN is building its infrastructure with American technology and has agreed that Chinese frontier models won’t be trained on computing capacity it obtains through US export approvals.
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it → build → approvals
At the same time, it keeps its relationships with Chinese firms open.
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it → keep → firms
Beyond the MiniMax deal, ByteDance’s cloud arm is building infrastructure in Riyadh, Tencent Cloud has secured a Saudi operating license, and Lenovo has already rolled its first “Made in Saudi Arabia” laptop.
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Lenovo → build → laptop
The strategy stems from a simple calculation.
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strategy → stem → calculation
American restrictions push Riyadh toward Chinese alternatives, and Chinese shortfalls in frontier performance push it back toward Washington.
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shortfalls → push → Washington
In the end, both sides end up competing for something the Gulf increasingly controls: AI infrastructure.
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Gulf → end → something
AI may feel like software, but in many ways, it’s more like heavy industry, with enormous data centers, electricity, cooling, land, and capital.
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it → feel → centers
Saudi Arabia has all of it.
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Arabia → have → it
DataVolt is already constructing a roughly $1 billion, 100-megawatt facility at NEOM designed to export compute, with ambitions to expand to 360 megawatts.
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DataVolt → construct → megawatts
This allows Saudi Arabia to compete globally not by inventing the best chip or training the best model.
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Arabia → allow → model
The kingdom can own a growing share of the infrastructure everyone else’s models runs on, and use access to that infrastructure to extract investment, localization commitments, and technology transfer.
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models → own → investment
If Washington insists on treating access to chips as a foreign policy tool and Beijing uses open models to penetrate markets its hardware can’t access, Saudi Arabia and Gulf states will follow their own interests, which is not to choose between either side, and the AI competition may look more like the Cold War than expected.
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competition → insist → War
Rather than two sealed blocs, it could produce a handful of swing states able to play both sides, extracting economic and strategic benefits as Washington and Beijing compete for their allegiance.
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Washington → seal → allegiance
The Gulf spent decades learning to turn control over energy into geopolitical leverage.
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Gulf → spend → leverage
It’s now applying the same playbook to compute.
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It → apply → compute
Judah Taub is the founder and managing partner of Hetz Ventures, an Israeli early-stage venture capital firm specializing in cybersecurity, data, and AI infrastructure.
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Taub → manage → cybersecurity
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