Saudi Aramco will acquire a 49 percent stake in state-backed artificial intelligence company Humain and invest about 9.9 billion Saudi riyals ($2.6 billion) this year, as Saudi Arabia moves to expand its AI compute, data-centre and cloud infrastructure capacity.
The Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, will retain the remaining 51 percent ownership in Humain, according to a joint statement reported by AFP and published by The Economic Times. Aramco will make the investment through a wholly owned subsidiary and contribute AI assets, computing capabilities and talent to the company.
Humain was launched in May 2025 and is being developed as a Saudi-backed artificial intelligence company with ambitions extending across infrastructure, cloud platforms and AI applications. The company is planning to deploy three gigawatts of AI data-centre capacity by 2030, the statement said.
The planned capacity places data centres at the centre of the transaction. AI systems require large volumes of computing power, storage, cooling and reliable electricity, making the expansion of AI services closely tied to physical infrastructure as well as software development. Humain’s proposed deployment will therefore involve the scaling of digital infrastructure alongside the development of AI models and cloud services.
The company has also developed an Arabic-language large language model, according to the statement. Its stated plans cover the full AI infrastructure chain, including computing capacity and cloud platforms intended to serve growing regional and global demand.
Aramco’s investment links the AI initiative to one of the world’s largest energy companies and to the wider economic diversification programme led by the PIF. Saudi Arabia’s economy remains heavily connected to oil, while the sovereign wealth fund has been backing initiatives intended to build new sectors and capabilities.
Amin H. Nasser, Aramco’s president and chief executive, said artificial intelligence had helped the oil company generate $11.3 billion in technology-related value since 2023. The statement did not provide a breakdown of that figure or specify how Aramco’s contributed assets and capabilities would be integrated into Humain’s operations.
The transaction is also expected to support Humain’s efforts to scale up in response to rising demand for AI compute in the region and globally. The joint statement did not disclose the timetable for the completion of the stake acquisition, the locations of the planned data centres or the financing structure for the full three-gigawatt deployment.
The announcement makes Humain’s infrastructure ambitions one of the most significant publicly stated components of Saudi Arabia’s AI expansion plans. The next milestones will be the implementation of Aramco’s investment, the transfer of assets and talent, and progress towards the company’s planned 2030 data-centre capacity.
