Saudi-US AI Agreement Seeks to Transform the Balance of Power in Global Technology

Elon Musk's

has revealed a significant alliance with Saudi Arabia's government-supported AI initiative Humain to establish a 500-megawatt data center utilizing processors, representing one of the largest AI infrastructure investments in the kingdom so far. Announced at the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum in Washington on November 19, 2025, this partnership to become a leading global AI center and demonstrates the strengthening technological relationship between the two countries.

Musk introduced the initiative together with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang at the event, which also included speeches from U.S. President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The facility,

, will be a vital infrastructure point for xAI's Grok models and fits into Saudi Arabia's larger plan to develop affordable, large-scale AI computing resources. The center, , will add to xAI's current superclusters and marks its initial major project outside the U.S.

The collaboration must overcome a major challenge: U.S. restrictions on exporting advanced AI hardware. Yet,

that the Trump administration is close to granting an exemption for Humain, which would allow Saudi Arabia to move forward with its AI goals. This agreement also signals the kingdom's determined efforts to establish a comprehensive AI ecosystem, and xAI's state-of-the-art models to build a "national AI platform" for both government and business applications.

The forum also emphasized broader economic cooperation between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia,

announced across industries such as energy, healthcare, and technology. Additional AI deals included Luma AI raising $900 million in Series C funding led by Humain, with the funds allocated for a 2-gigawatt "Project Halo" supercluster in Saudi Arabia. This infrastructure will advance Luma's work on multimodal artificial general intelligence (AGI), on a massive scale.

Saudi Arabia is leveraging its unique advantages—vast land, plentiful energy, and strategic location—to develop AI hubs that serve both regional and international needs, while the U.S. brings its technological expertise to foster innovation.

was formalized by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, covering cooperation on semiconductor supply, AI solutions, and talent development.

Musk stressed that the xAI-Humain initiative would help realize "the future of intelligence" by merging immense computing resources with advanced AI models. "This is the first project to roll out xAI's Grok across an entire nation," he said,

of the partnership for the global AI sector. At the same time, Saudi leaders reiterated their aim to become the "world's most AI-driven country," with Crown Prince MBS in the kingdom's Vision 2030 economic reform agenda.

As more information about funding and scheduling is released, the project's outcome will hinge on securing U.S. regulatory clearance and aligning with Saudi Arabia's fast-paced digital transformation objectives. For now, the xAI-Humain data center stands as a testament to the merging of global strategy, business ambition, and technological progress.