HUMAIN, Saudi Arabia’s national artificial intelligence (AI) company, and AirTrunk, backed by global investment firm Blackstone, have announced a partnership to develop state-of-the-art data centres in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The deal marks AirTrunk’s first foray into the Middle East.

The partnership’s first project will involve an estimated US$3 billion investment to build a hyperscale data centre campus in Saudi Arabia.

Backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), HUMAIN is leading national efforts to establish end-to-end AI capabilities, from infrastructure and computing power to advanced models and applications. AirTrunk, supported by Blackstone and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), has built one of the largest data centre platforms in the Asia Pacific region.

Tareq Amin, CEO of HUMAIN, commented on the deal, “Together with AirTrunk and Blackstone, HUMAIN is strengthening the technological infrastructure that underpins the Kingdom’s digital economy,” Amin said.

“This partnership marks a pivotal moment in creating scalable, secure, and sustainable data centre capacity to support the rapid growth of AI and cloud computing. This initiative not only accelerates Saudi Arabia’s technological advancement but also establishes a platform for long-term economic diversification and global competitiveness.”

Robin Khuda, founder and CEO of AirTrunk, meanwhile said, “Our strategic partnership with HUMAIN, a key player in the region, will support Saudi Arabia to realise its vision of being a data- and AI-driven economy,” Khuda said.

“We’re bringing together the whole digital ecosystem, combining HUMAIN’s end-to-end AI capabilities with AirTrunk’s leading hyperscale data center expertise. This announcement strengthens the AirTrunk platform as we deliver world-class digital infrastructure for the cloud and AI across the Asia Pacific and now the Middle East — one of the fastest-growing regions in the world.”

Stephen A. Schwarzman, chairman, CEO, and co-founder of Blackstone, described the collaboration as part of the firm’s broader commitment to powering the global AI revolution.

“We are thrilled to help power this next era of innovation in the Middle East and enable AirTrunk’s expansion in this important region,” Schwarzman said.

“The AI revolution continues to be one of Blackstone’s highest conviction themes. As the largest provider of data centers globally, we bring scale and expertise to support this initiative, reinforcing our position as a leading investor in digital infrastructure and deepening our presence in the Middle East.”

Under the agreement, HUMAIN, AirTrunk, and Blackstone will form a long-term partnership focused on financing, developing, and operating next-generation data centres and AI infrastructure across the Kingdom.

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