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May 13 — As former U.S. President Donald Trump embarked on a high-profile tour of the Gulf region, major American tech companies unveiled a series of landmark artificial intelligence (AI) partnerships with Middle Eastern entities, reinforcing the region’s ambitions to become a global AI powerhouse.
Trump’s tour began with a strategic economic pact in Saudi Arabia, which included $600 billion in commitments to U.S. firms. This was swiftly followed by a flurry of AI-related announcements from top U.S. technology players, notably Nvidia, AMD, and Qualcomm.
Nvidia and AMD Ink Multibillion-Dollar Deals with Saudi-Backed AI Firm
Nvidia confirmed plans to deliver hundreds of thousands of its state-of-the-art “Blackwell” AI chips to Saudi Arabia. The initial shipment of 18,000 chips will go to Humain, a newly launched AI startup backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF). The collaboration aims to transform Saudi Arabia into a global hub for AI and cloud computing.
In parallel, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) also revealed a significant partnership with Humain, detailing a $10 billion collaboration. This includes a large-scale deployment of AI infrastructure over the next five years, featuring 500 megawatts of hardware capacity.
“We’re building a globally significant AI platform that delivers performance, openness, and reach at unprecedented levels,” said AMD CEO Lisa Su.
Qualcomm and Other U.S. Firms Join the AI Push
Qualcomm added to the momentum by signing a memorandum of understanding with Humain to co-develop central processing units (CPUs) for AI data centers. While Qualcomm acquired server CPU startup Nuvia in 2021, it has yet to bring a product to market.
The White House noted that several U.S. companies—including Google, Oracle, Salesforce, AMD, Uber, and DataVolt—plan to invest $80 billion in transformative technologies across both the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.
Additionally, Saudi-based DataVolt will invest $20 billion in building AI data centers and energy infrastructure within the United States.
Strategic Shift Towards AI in the Gulf
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman launched Humain on Monday, signaling the kingdom’s drive to diversify its economy away from oil and become a leader in AI. The firm, chaired by the Crown Prince, will operate under the Public Investment Fund and provide AI solutions spanning cloud services, advanced AI models, and infrastructure.
Nvidia and Humain stated they would build AI “factories” with capacities reaching 500 megawatts, equipped with hundreds of thousands of GPUs over five years, reinforcing Saudi Arabia’s long-term AI ambitions.
Tareq Amin, CEO of Humain, called the initiative “a really, really big” step for the kingdom. “In building an AI company, you need the foundation and the infrastructure,” he said during the launch in Riyadh.
Trump’s Broader Middle East Tour
Trump’s visit to the region, which includes a planned stop in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) later this week, is part of a broader effort to attract trillions in investment and deepen economic ties. According to The New York Times, a deal is also in the works to allow the UAE to acquire large volumes of Nvidia AI chips.
As Gulf states ramp up efforts to modernize their economies, these U.S. tech deals are not only transformative for the region but also signal the rising geopolitical weight of AI in shaping future global alliances.
Reporting by Max A. Cherney and Stephen Nellis in San Francisco, Federico Maccioni in Riyadh. Written by Manya Saini. Edited by Barbara Lewis, Mark Potter, Rod Nickel, Alistair Bell, and Leslie Adler.
