PIF’s Humain and US chipmakers seal multibillion-dollar deals
15 May 2025
Humain, the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF)-owned artificial intelligence (AI) firm, has signed preliminary deals with US chipmakers AMD and Nvidia to build a multibillion-dollar advanced digital infrastructure in the kingdom.
The firms announced the deals on 13 May, coinciding with the first day of US President Donald Trump’s trip to the Gulf states.
AMD said it will invest up to $10bn to deploy 500MW of AI compute capacity in Saudi Arabia over the next five years.
According to AMD, the project entails building “the world’s most open, scalable, resilient and cost-efficient AI infrastructure, that will power the future of global intelligence through a network of AMD-based AI computing centres stretching from Saudi Arabia to the US”.
It added: “The AI superstructure built by AMD and Humain will be open by design, accessible at scale and optimised to power AI workloads across enterprise, start-up and sovereign markets.
“Humain will oversee end-to-end delivery, including [the construction of a] hyperscale data centre, sustainable power systems and global fiber interconnects, and AMD will provide the full spectrum of the AMD AI compute portfolio and the AMD ROCm open software ecosystem.”
The ROCm is an open software stack comprising drivers, development tools and application programming interfaces that enable graphic processing unit (GPU) programming from low-level kernel to end-user applications, according to AMD.
Similarly, GPU maker Nvidia agreed to develop a similar compute capacity to build “AI factories” in Saudi Arabia with a projected capacity of up to 500MW.
These will require “several hundred thousand” of Nvidia’s most advanced GPUs over the next five years.
The firm said the first phase of deployment will be an 18,000 Nvidia GB300 Grace Blackwell AI supercomputer with Nvidia InfiniBand networking.
“These hyperscale AI data centres will provide a secure foundational infrastructure for training and deploying sovereign AI models at scale, enabling industries across Saudi Arabia and worldwide to accelerate innovation and digital transformation,” the firm said.
The chosen platform is Nvidia Omniverse, which the firm describes as “a multi-tenant system to drive acceleration of the new era of physical AI and robotics through simulation, optimisation and operation of physical environments by new human-AI-led solutions”.
This will allow industries such as manufacturing, logistics and energy to create fully integrated digital twins, boosting efficiency, safety and sustainability while fast-tracking the kingdom’s journey toward Industry 4.0, it added.
The UAE and Nvidia, in particular, are expected to announce a deal over the next 24 hours for the supply of up to 1 million GPUs to the UAE, international media reports indicate.
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AD Ports signs Jordan Aqaba port PPP deal6 February 2026
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The request for qualifications (RFQs) was issued by the municipality’s Sewerage and Recycled Water Projects Department (SRPD).
The bid submission deadline is 26 February.
The first scheme under the package is TF-16-C1, which involves upgrading and rehabilitating the stormwater system east of the Dubai Canal.
The second, TF-15-C2, will deliver stormwater links along Umm Suqeim Road to serve the Al-Barsha and Al-Quoz communities.
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In January, local firm DeTech Contracting won the main contract to construct a stormwater drainage system in Jebel Ali.
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READ THE FEBRUARY 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDFSpending on oil and gas production surges; Doha’s efforts support extraordinary growth in 2026; Water sector regains momentum in 2025.
Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the February 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
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Modon tenders Ras El-Hekma construction contracts
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Abu Dhabi-based developer Modon Holding has tendered several contracts as part of the first phase of development at Ras El-Hekma, a planned new city on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast.
MEED understands that the tenders were issued in January.
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DP3 assets: covering 146 residential villas, 590 three-bedroom townhouses, 356 four-bedroom townhouses, a mall and other associated works.
Bids due on 23 February.
DP4 assets: DP4 includes 54 villas, a clubhouse and other associated infrastructure.
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DP7 assets: 120 five-bedroom villas, 230 seven-bedroom villas, 284 branded residential units and other infrastructural works.
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Modon has accelerated development works at Ras El-Hekma this year. In January, MEED reported that Modon Holding had awarded a E£15bn ($316m) contract for the construction of a project at Ras El-Hekma.
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The scope of the contract covers the construction of residential units, commercial facilities and a 70-key hotel.
In September, MEED reported that Modon Holding had tendered contracts for the infrastructure works for the first phase of the Ras El-Hekma project.
As part of the first phase, Modon plans to develop more than 50 million square metres (sq m), including hotels and a marina.
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Last year, Abu Dhabi-based holding company ADQ appointed Modon Holding as the master developer for the Ras El-Hekma project.
According to an official statement, Modon will act as the master developer for the entire development, which will cover more than 170 million sq m.
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Commercial International Bank Egypt (CIB) has provided €58m in credit facilities to local firm Elsewedy Electric for the construction of a combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plant in Hungary.
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The signing ceremony was held at the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority headquarters in Aqaba on 5 February.
The agreement was signed by Hussein Safadi, CEO of ADC, and Ahmed Al-Mutawa, regional CEO of AD Ports Group.
Aqaba port handles about 80% of Jordan’s exports and 65% of its imports.
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In 2025, the terminal handled over 5.3 million tonnes of cargo and nearly 85,000 car equivalent units of Ro-Ro imports.
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The announcement followed AD Ports Group’s signing of a shareholders’ agreement in January 2024 between its digital arm, Maqta Gateway, and Jordan’s Aqaba Development Corporation regarding their existing joint-venture company, Maqta Ayla.
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Chinese firm wins Ceer automotive supplier park deal
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Beijing-headquartered Metallurgical Construction Corporation (MCC) has won a contract to undertake the steel structure works on the Ceer automotive supplier park in King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC).
The supplier park is located next to Ceer’s electric vehicle (EV) production facility in KAEC.
The automotive supplier park will include production and ancillary facilities for various suppliers and provide the material supply infrastructure for Ceer’s EV plant.
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