Summary:
Saudi Arabia and UAE are in a $10 billion+ AI race to dominate the Middle East’s tech future.
Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 ties 70% of its goals to AI, while the UAE has a minister of state for AI.
Saudi Arabia leads in future data center capacity (2,200 MW vs. UAE’s 500 MW).
Both nations face challenges: no frontier AI models, talent shortages, and slow ecosystem growth.
The AI race is expanding beyond Silicon Valley, with Riyadh and Abu Dhabi as new contenders.
Saudi Arabia and UAE's High-Stakes AI Race
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are in a fierce competition to become the leading artificial intelligence (AI) hub in the Middle East. Both nations are investing heavily, forming alliances with U.S. tech giants, and planning to build some of the world’s largest data center clusters.
Why AI?
Both countries aim to diversify their oil-dependent economies and see AI as a key driver of economic growth. Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 strategy highlights AI as essential, with 70% of its strategic goals tied to data and AI. The UAE, meanwhile, appointed a minister of state for AI in 2017 and established the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), which is now opening a Silicon Valley AI lab.
Saudi Arabia’s AI Investments
- $10 billion venture capital fund by state-backed AI company Humain.
- $10 billion joint investment with Google Cloud to build an AI hub.
- $5 billion partnership with AWS to develop an “AI Zone.”
- $14 billion commitment from Oracle for digital cloud and AI infrastructure.
- $1 billion data center by Equinix to support cloud and AI workloads.
UAE’s AI Investments
- $100 billion AI investment firm MGX, backed by Mubadala and G42.
- Stargate UAE, a proposed 1 gigawatt data center cluster with OpenAI, G42, Oracle, Nvidia, and SoftBank.
- $3.54 billion to automate government processes through the Abu Dhabi Government Digital Strategy.
Data Center Dominance
Saudi Arabia is pulling ahead in future data center capacity, with 2,200 megawatts planned compared to the UAE’s 500 megawatts. This positions Saudi Arabia for long-term AI infrastructure dominance.
Challenges Ahead
Despite massive investments, both nations face hurdles:
- No frontier AI model on par with OpenAI’s GPT-4 or China’s DeepSeek.
- Scarce skilled AI talent.
- Building an innovation ecosystem takes time.
The Bigger Picture
The AI race is no longer confined to Silicon Valley or Shenzhen. Riyadh and Abu Dhabi are emerging as key players, leveraging their energy resources and sovereign wealth to shape the future of AI.
Comments