SEATTLE: Executives from Amazon Web Services, the world’s largest data center provider and a key player in the global AI race, are eyeing opportunities nearly 10,000 km away in Saudi Arabia.
In the last year, the Kingdom has taken its AI ambitions into overdrive, launching some of the most ambitious goals and investments in the technology anywhere, with over $40 billion earmarked for investment by 2030.
A figure — and an opportunity — that has not gone unnoticed by big tech on the US West Coast. Next year, AWS is set to launch a $5.3 billion “AI region,” housing data centers required for AI deployment, and is committing to invest a further $5 billion to create an “AI zone” in collaboration with Saudi AI firm Humain.
A look at the global hyperscale cloud providers competing for market share in Saudi Arabia, including AWS, Microsoft, Google, Oracle, and stc. (creativecommons.org)
“Launching a region is a serious investment, and it reflects our confidence in the business potential of the Kingdom,” Ruba Borno, VP of Global Specialists and Partners at AWS, told Arab News at a media event held at the firm’s Seattle HQ in November.
