Tech Giants Forge AI Alliance in Middle East
In a significant development for the artificial intelligence infrastructure landscape, technology heavyweights Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Cisco Systems have partnered with Saudi Arabian AI startup Humain to establish a joint venture focused on building advanced data centers across the Middle East region. The collaboration has already secured its first major client, marking a substantial milestone before the venture has even been formally named.
The chief executives of all three companies confirmed the development in an exclusive interview with Reuters on Tuesday, November 19, 2025, revealing strategic plans that could reshape AI computing capabilities across multiple continents.
Initial Project Details and First Customer
The joint venture will commence operations with an ambitious 100-megawatt data center project based in Saudi Arabia. According to Humain CEO Tareq Amin, the entire computing capacity of this initial facility has been contracted to generative video startup Luma AI, making them the venture's inaugural customer.
"They will be the first customer of this cluster," Amin stated, emphasizing that Luma AI has committed to purchasing the complete 100-megawatt capacity. This represents a significant vote of confidence in the nascent partnership and underscores the growing demand for AI computing resources in the region.
The initial phase is scheduled for construction in 2026 and will operate entirely on renewable energy sources, aligning with global sustainability trends. For this buildout, Cisco will supply networking equipment and infrastructure components, while AMD will provide its advanced MI450 AI chips to power the computational needs.
Strategic Background and Expansion Plans
This joint venture emerges from a series of agreements announced during U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to Riyadh in May 2025. The timing coincides with additional meetings between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and President Trump in Washington this week, suggesting further collaborative announcements might be forthcoming.
Saudi Arabia's substantial sovereign wealth fund has thrown its support behind Humain and its ambitious data center expansion strategy, leveraging the country's advantages of abundant available property and cost-effective power resources.
The partnership follows AMD's earlier announced $10 billion collaboration with Humain in May, which included significant purchases of AMD's advanced AI chips. Other U.S. technology firms, including Nvidia and Qualcomm, also secured agreements during the same period, indicating a broader trend of international technology investment in Saudi Arabia's digital transformation.
Organizational Structure and Market Ambitions
Within the joint venture structure, AMD and Cisco will serve as minority shareholders, participating in both profits and losses of the initiative. Humain will take the leadership role in the partnership, with AMD CEO Lisa Su emphasizing their collective responsibility for ensuring the venture's success.
The companies have not disclosed additional financial specifics beyond the existing agreements, maintaining confidentiality around certain aspects of the partnership.
According to Amin, the joint venture aims to serve an expansive market spanning Asia, Europe, India, the Middle East, and Africa - representing a total potential market of approximately 4.5 billion people. The scale of this ambition is reflected in their long-term vision to develop up to one gigawatt of new data centers by 2030 to support the joint venture's growth.
Sales Strategy and Implementation Timeline
Cisco will contribute beyond infrastructure provision by leveraging its extensive salesforce to help market capacity in the planned data centers. Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins highlighted the company's 25-year experience in designing sales incentives and plans to apply this expertise to support Humain in selling data center capacity.
While construction has not yet commenced on the various projects, Humain is already receiving purchase orders for future building phases, indicating strong market anticipation for the additional capacity.
This partnership represents a significant step in global AI infrastructure development, potentially positioning Saudi Arabia as a key hub for artificial intelligence computing in the Eastern Hemisphere while creating new opportunities for technological collaboration between international tech leaders and regional innovators.
