Riyadh – Sharikat Mubasher: Saudi Arabia’s state-owned artificial intelligence company Humain is in early talks with global private equity giants Blackstone Inc. and BlackRock Inc. to secure billions of dollars for a massive data center expansion, according to people familiar with the matter.
The preliminary discussions, which remain confidential, aim to fund new AI infrastructure across the kingdom, as reported by Bloomberg. No final structure or investment size has been decided, and the firms declined to comment.
Humain, created in May by the $1 trillion Public Investment Fund, is central to Riyadh’s Vision 2030 strategy to diversify its economy through advanced technology. The company has begun building its first data centers, set to go live in early 2026, and plans to reach 1.9 gigawatts of capacity by 2030. It is sourcing semiconductors from US suppliers, including Nvidia, and is in talks with Elon Musk’s xAI on a potential data center partnership.
Steve Schwarzman, Blackstone Chief Executive, is said to be directly involved in the negotiations, highlighting the scale of the potential deal as Saudi Arabia accelerates its AI ambitions.
