Is Saudi Arabia About To Become Big Tech's Next Billion-Dollar AI Playground?

Author: Anusuya Lahiri | November 19, 2025 06:03am

Major U.S. chip stocks, including Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD), are positioned for fresh momentum as Washington prepares to authorize the first shipments of advanced artificial intelligence chips to Humain, a state-backed Saudi AI initiative.

Strategic Deal Advances U.S.–Saudi AI Cooperation

The move aligns with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump to finalize a broader AI cooperation pact between the two countries.

According to Bloomberg, the agreement is expected to streamline U.S. export approvals for thousands of high-performance semiconductors destined for Saudi Arabia. These chips have required Washington’s signoff since 2023 due to tightened export controls.

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The U.S. has already granted similar licenses to American tech firms operating data centers in the United Arab Emirates. Trump confirmed ongoing negotiations, noting the pact will cover “certain levels of chips”, while U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the agreement would connect Saudi Arabia’s AI scale-up with leading U.S. suppliers.

Security Conditions Remain Central To Washington’s Strategy

U.S. policymakers continue to place guardrails on semiconductor exports to prevent rerouting sensitive technology to China via third countries.

Sources told Bloomberg the new Saudi approvals come with strict security provisions designed to maintain those protections.

Saudi leaders have publicly pledged not to use Chinese AI hardware, including systems from Huawei, as they pursue rapid investment in domestic computing infrastructure.

Saudi Arabia’s $50B Push To Build A Regional AI Powerhouse

Humain — chaired by the crown prince and backed by Saudi Arabia’s $1 trillion Public Investment Fund — aims to deploy up to 400,000 AI chips by 2030 while building large-scale data center capacity powered by low-cost local energy.

The country plans to invest roughly $50 billion in the near term to secure the computing power required for its AI roadmap.

Wall Street has been tracking the opportunity closely. As of May 14, Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives said U.S. technology giants stand to benefit as Saudi Arabia emerges as the next major AI hub, opening a sizable market for chips, software, robotics, and data center infrastructure.

He noted that companies including Nvidia, Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR), Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT), Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG), and Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) could gain meaningfully from the kingdom’s aggressive AI build-out — activity he believes could add as much as $1 trillion to the global AI market in the coming years.

Ives also pointed to Saudi Arabia’s early collaboration with Nvidia, including an initial purchase of 18,000 next-generation Blackwell chips for a new supercomputer, as evidence of Riyadh’s focus on U.S. technology leadership within its Vision 2030 transformation strategy.

Price Actions: NVDA stock was trading higher by 0.74% to $182.71 premarket at last check Wednesday.

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