Saudi Arabia is building one of the region’s biggest AI data centres, and the price tag alone should make you sit up. Humain, the kingdom’s artificial intelligence infrastructure developer, has just issued a tender worth an estimated $1bn to build a 100MW AI data centre in Riyadh’s Al-Saad area, with the option to double it to 200MW later.
What’s actually being built in Riyadh, and why it’s such a big deal
The request for proposals covers a full engineering, procurement and construction contract. That means whoever wins will handle everything from the shell of the buildings to the plumbing, electrics, testing and the surrounding site works. The plot itself is huge: 350,200 square metres, roughly the size of 49 football pitches.
The tender went out on 17 September, and bids are due by 8 November. So this isn’t a vague plan on a whiteboard. Contractors are already racing to put numbers together.
The first phase is split into two equal 50MW chunks, built across two single-storey buildings that will each house four 25MW data halls. Humain wants phase one ready for service by October 2028, with phase two following in January 2029. There’s also a third, optional phase that could add another 100MW by July 2029, which is where the 200MW total capacity comes from.
What makes this project stand out from a typical data centre is the density. The facility is being designed specifically for high-powered graphics processing unit clusters, the chips that power today’s AI models. Rack densities will hit 240kW to 250kW, which is far higher than what most conventional data centres are built to handle. In plain terms, this isn’t a facility for storing emails and spreadsheets. It’s built to train and run heavy-duty AI systems.
Why this matters for the UAE and the wider GCC
Saudi Arabia isn’t the only Gulf country chasing AI infrastructure, but a $1bn single tender shows how serious the regional race has become. For the UAE, which has its own ambitions to become a global AI and tech hub, this is a reminder that neighbours are moving fast and spending big. Investors, contractors and tech firms across the GCC will be watching closely to see who wins the Humain contract and how quickly it gets built.
For UAE and GCC construction firms, this is also a direct business opportunity. EPC contracts of this size don’t come around often, and the companies that land this deal will gain experience and credibility that could help them win similar AI data centre projects elsewhere in the region, including at home. Expect more of these megaprojects to follow as governments compete to host the compute power that AI companies and sovereign AI ambitions increasingly need. You can follow more of these developments in our innovation news coverage.
It’s also a signal to global tech and AI companies eyeing the Gulf. A facility built for 240kW to 250kW rack densities tells chipmakers and cloud providers that Saudi Arabia is building infrastructure specifically to attract the heaviest AI workloads, not just general cloud computing. That could shape where international firms choose to set up shop next, and it puts pressure on the UAE to keep matching pace on its own AI infrastructure projects.
Keep an eye on 8 November, when bids close, and on who eventually wins the contract. If the optional 200MW expansion goes ahead, this could become one of the largest AI compute hubs in the Middle East, a milestone worth watching whether you’re in construction, tech or simply tracking where the Gulf’s AI race is headed next, as first reported by MEED.
