HUMAIN and AirTrunk to Build Data Centers in Saudi Arabia

HUMAIN, a global artificial intelligence (AI) company based in Saudi Arabia building end-to-end AI capabilities, and AirTrunk, the leading data center platform in the Asia Pacific region, have agreed to establish a strategic partnership to build data centers in the Kingdom.  The initial project involves an approximately $3 billion investment for a data center campus in Saudi Arabia.

 The partnership combines HUMAIN’s trusted reputation as the national AI champion with AirTrunk’s proven track record and operational expertise with key cloud and AI customers to advance Saudi Arabia’s vision to become a global innovation hub.

HUMAIN is owned by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, Public Investment Fund (PIF), and AirTrunk is backed by Blackstone, the world’s largest alternative asset manager, and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. Together, the companies’ financial strengths and industry leadership underscore the significance of this initiative in shaping the region’s digital ecosystem.

The collaboration aligns with HUMAIN’s mandate to position the Kingdom as a global leader in artificial intelligence and reinforces its commitment to building best-in-class digital and AI infrastructure.

Through this partnership, HUMAIN will lead national efforts to deliver large-scale, AI-ready infrastructure, while Blackstone, the world’s largest data center investor, and its portfolio company AirTrunk, the leading data center platform in the Asia Pacific region, will lead development, bringing global expertise, operational excellence, and investment capacity.

The parties will cooperate across several key areas, including data center design, construction, and operation; financing through equity and debt; and go-to-market initiatives to attract hyperscalers and enterprise clients. The partnership will also focus on developing local talent and capabilities, supporting Saudi Arabia’s ambition to build a globally competitive and sustainable digital ecosystem.

Strengthening Tech Infrastructure

HUMAIN CEO Tareq Amin said that together with AirTrunk and Blackstone, his company was strengthening the technological infrastructure that underpinned the Kingdom’s digital economy.

He also said that this partnership marks a pivotal moment in creating scalable, secure, and sustainable data center 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.

AirTrunk Founder and CEO Robin Khuda said that their 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.

He said that AirTrunk was bringing together the whole digital ecosystem, combining HUMAIN’s end-to-end AI capabilities, from infrastructure to models, with AirTrunk’s leading hyperscale data center capabilities.

He added: “This announcement strengthens the AirTrunk data center platform as we deliver world-class digital infrastructure for the cloud and AI across the Asia Pacific and now the Middle East, which is one of the fastest growing regions in the world.”

Blackstone’s Chairman, CEO and Co-founder Stephen A Schwarzman said that they were thrilled to help power this next era of innovation in the Middle East and enable AirTrunk’s expansion in this important region.

The AI revolution continues to be one of Blackstone’s highest conviction themes, and it brings scale and expertise across the ecosystem as the largest provider of data centers globally and a significant investor in related services and infrastructure, he explained.

“This initiative reinforces Blackstone’s position as one of the world’s leading investors in digital infrastructure and marks a commitment to deepening our presence in the Middle East,” he added.