Saudi Arabia just landed another big AI infrastructure win, and it’s happening on the Red Sea coast. Humain, the kingdom’s AI company, and data centre developer DataVolt have signed preliminary terms with Netherlands-based AI cloud firm Nebius for up to 50MW of capacity at Oxagon, Neom’s planned industrial city. If you’re tracking how the Gulf is positioning itself in the global AI race, this deal is worth your attention.
What’s actually happening at Oxagon, Neom’s AI hub in Saudi Arabia
Here’s the breakdown. Nebius will become an anchor customer at a data centre campus being built at Oxagon, part of the wider Neom giga-project on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast. The deal covers up to 50MW, which is half of the 100MW facility already under construction at the site.
That 100MW build is just the first step. It’s part of a planned 360MW first phase, with the entire Oxagon campus eventually designed to hit a massive 1.5GW of capacity. Construction on the initial 100MW started in September, and the Nebius capacity is expected to come online in stages starting from the fourth quarter of 2027.
Humain is owned by the Public Investment Fund, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth vehicle. DataVolt brings the technical know-how, handling the development, financing and operation of the digital infrastructure. Together, they’re building a campus meant to serve both Saudi and international customers running large-scale AI and cloud workloads.
The timing and location of the announcement matter too. The agreement was signed at Nvidia’s GTC event in Berlin, running from 20-22 October. Nvidia hosts this conference to show off its latest advances in AI and accelerated computing, and it’s no coincidence that major infrastructure deals keep getting inked there. Nebius is expected to run Nvidia-powered computing hardware at Oxagon to support its AI cloud business and serve customers around the world.
Why this matters for the wider GCC data centre and AI race
Oxagon isn’t just another data centre site. It’s being built to attract energy-intensive digital infrastructure, backed by pre-zoned industrial land, dedicated power resources and subsea cable links connecting to Europe and Africa. The plan also includes renewable energy integration and advanced cooling systems, both of which matter a lot when you’re trying to run power-hungry AI workloads sustainably.
For UAE and GCC readers, this is another sign of how seriously Gulf states are competing for a slice of the global AI infrastructure boom. Dubai, Abu Dhabi and now Saudi Arabia are all racing to build the physical backbone, data centres, power capacity and connectivity, that AI companies need to operate at scale. Whoever builds the fastest and cheapest capacity tends to win the biggest customers, and Nebius choosing Oxagon as an anchor site suggests Saudi Arabia is making real progress on that front.
It’s also a reminder of how much capital and ambition sits behind these projects. A 1.5GW target for a single campus is enormous by any global standard, and it signals that Saudi Arabia wants Oxagon to be a serious international hub, not just a domestic facility. For investors and businesses watching the region’s innovation news, deals like this are a strong indicator of where capital and infrastructure investment are heading next across the Gulf.
What to watch next: the preliminary framework agreement still needs to move into firm contracts, and the first real test will be whether Nebius capacity actually comes online as planned from late 2027. If it does, expect more AI cloud companies to follow Nebius’s lead and sign up at Oxagon as the wider 1.5GW campus takes shape. This story was reported by MEED.
