Strategic Algorithms: Saudi Arabia’s AI Diplomacy amid the President Trump visit to Gulf Region

Dr. Zheer Ahmed

17 May, 2025

The convergence of geopolitical interests, economic diversification efforts, and technological innovation is reshaping the strategic landscape of West Asia. At the forefront of this transformation is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s assertive pursuit of leadership in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), as part of its broader Vision 2030 agenda. This ambitious national initiative seeks to transition the Saudi economy away from its historic reliance on hydrocarbon revenues and position the Kingdom as a digital and technological powerhouse in West Asia. Central to this effort is the establishment of Humain, a state-backed AI enterprise designed to develop sovereign AI capabilities and large language models (LLMs), particularly tailored to Arabic-speaking users.

This evolving dynamic unfolded against the backdrop of renewed diplomatic engagement between the United States (US) and Saudi Arabia. During a recent high-profile visit, President Donald Trump emphasized the strategic importance of bolstering US investment ties with Saudi Arabia of an additional US $400 billion investments to complement the US $600 billion already pledged by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in earlier discussions. The visit also marked a significant policy shift, as the Trump administration lifted key export controls imposed during the Biden era. These controls had previously restricted the export of advanced US-made AI chips—particularly those produced by Nvidia to Gulf countries. With the policy change, Humain and the UAE-based AI firm G42 were granted enhanced access to these high-performance computational tools.

The founding of Humain under the auspices of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), the sovereign wealth fund responsible for managing the nation’s oil-derived financial surplus, reflects the centrality of AI to Saudi Arabia’s strategic objectives. The PIF’s involvement signals the prioritization of AI as a critical domain for future economic and geopolitical relevance. By embedding itself into the global AI supply chain, particularly that of Silicon Valley, Saudi Arabia aims to elevate its status as an indispensable player in the emerging technological order.

Humain’s operational roadmap is indicative of the scale and seriousness of this undertaking. The company has announced plans to construct massive AI data centers across Saudi Arabia with a projected energy capacity of up to 500 megawatts over the next five years. These centers will be equipped with hundreds of thousands of Nvidia’s most advanced graphics processing units (GPUs), with an initial tranche of 18,000 chips designated for a flagship Saudi supercomputer. In parallel, strategic partnerships with leading semiconductor manufacturers such as Nvidia and AMD have been established, laying the foundation for Saudi Arabia’s long-term AI infrastructure.

From a geopolitical standpoint, the alignment between US technology firms and capital investment from the Gulf represents a complex calculus. Leading American technology companies including OpenAI, Alphabet (Google), Meta, and Elon Musk’s xAI are actively seeking foreign investment to sustain research and development, expand data center capacity, and gain competitive advantages in the global AI race. By welcoming investment from Gulf countries, these firms aim to mitigate financial constraints while reinforcing US dominance in global AI development. A notable example of this synergy is Scale AI, a US-based startup valued at over US $13 billion, which recently announced plans to establish a presence in Saudi Arabia.

Simultaneously, US policymakers are leveraging this economic cooperation to limit Chinese technological influence in the region. As part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China has been expanding its AI and digital infrastructure footprint across West Asia. The US strategy, therefore, involves channeling Gulf States’ investments into American AI ventures to preclude alignment with Chinese alternatives. This approach underscores the broader contours of great-power competition, where AI is not merely a commercial endeavor but a domain of strategic rivalry. In this context, Humain serves as more than a commercial enterprise. It embodies Saudi Arabia’s broader aspirations for regional leadership and global influence in emerging technologies.

Saudi Arabia recognizes the limitations of its global ambitions in the context of US-China technological rivalry. However, by becoming a leading force in AI development in the Arab world—particularly through the creation of Arabic-language LLMs—Saudi Arabia can consolidate its influence across West Asia and assert itself as a cultural and technological leader.

The symbolic and practical dimensions of these developments were on full display during the Future Investment Initiative (FII), hosted in Riyadh in October 2024. Often referred to as ‘Davos in the Desert’, the FII showcased Saudi Arabia’s vision of AI-driven modernization and its role as a convening power for global capital and technology leaders. Saudi Arabia’s ability to mobilize significant financial resources, offer streamlined regulatory frameworks, and create attractive investment incentives positions it as a formidable competitor to other regional actors, such as the UAE in the race for AI leadership.

The US and Saudi Arabia are entering a new phase of strategic cooperation that places artificial intelligence at the center of their bilateral relationship. For Saudi Arabia, AI represents both an economic diversification strategy and a vehicle for geopolitical ascendancy. For the US, engagement with Gulf States offers a means of sustaining technological leadership and counterbalancing Chinese influence. Yet, this partnership is not without risks. It requires careful calibration to ensure that short-term commercial interests do not undermine long-term strategic imperatives. As AI continues to shape the contours of global power, the US-Saudi Arabia collaboration will serve as a critical case study in the interplay between technology, economics, and geopolitics in the 21st century.

Dr. Zheer Ahmed is Assistant Professor at Center of Excellence for Geopolitics and International Studies, REVA University, Bengaluru.