Musk’s xAI to build 500MW data centre in Saudi data with Nvidia
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The news: Elon Musk’s xAI will work with Nvidia and Saudi Arabia’s state-backed AI company Humain to build a 500-megawatt data centre in the kingdom, Musk announced at the US-Saudi Investment Forum in Washington.
Musk said the facility would rely on Nvidia chips and become xAI’s biggest data centre outside the United States.
The partnership forms part of a broader effort by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to make Saudi Arabia a global hub for artificial intelligence and diversify its economy.
The New York Times reported that the agreement had been held up by uncertainty over Saudi Arabia’s access to advanced US semiconductors, but the US is now expected to approve exports to Humain and its partners.
A day earlier, the White House announced a new AI memorandum of understanding with Saudi Arabia, saying it would grant it access to leading US systems while protecting American technology.
What they said: Humain, launched in May with backing from the country’s USD1 trillion sovereign wealth fund, has set a goal of handling 6% of the world’s AI computing workload. Musk said in a statement that Humain’s capabilities would help xAI build “the future of intelligence” faster in Saudi Arabia.
Nvidia shares rose 1.6% after the announcement and ahead of its earnings report.
The sources: The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg
