October 28, 2025
HUMAIN, Saudi Arabia’s national artificial intelligence (AI) company, and AirTrunk, a hyperscale data centre specialist backed by Blackstone, announced a landmark partnership on Monday to develop state-of-the-art data centres in the Kingdom. The strategic agreement marks AirTrunk’s inaugural entry into the Middle East market.
The partnership’s first major initiative is a planned investment of approximately US$3 billion to construct a hyperscale data centre campus in Saudi Arabia. This project forms the cornerstone of a long-term alliance focused on financing, developing, and operating next-generation digital and AI infrastructure across the nation.
HUMAIN, which is backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), is tasked with building end-to-end national AI capabilities, spanning from foundational infrastructure to advanced applications. AirTrunk, supported by Blackstone and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, is a leading data centre platform in the Asia-Pacific region.
In a statement, Tareq Amin, CEO of HUMAIN, emphasized the strategic importance of the collaboration. “Together with AirTrunk and Blackstone, HUMAIN is strengthening the technological infrastructure that underpins the Kingdom’s digital economy,” Amin said. “This partnership marks a pivotal moment in creating scalable, secure, and sustainable data centre capacity to support the rapid growth of AI and cloud computing. This initiative not only accelerates Saudi Arabia’s technological advancement but also establishes a platform for long-term economic diversification and global competitiveness.”
Echoing this sentiment, Robin Khuda, Founder and CEO of AirTrunk, highlighted the synergy between the two companies. “Our strategic partnership with HUMAIN, a key player in the region, will support Saudi Arabia to realise its vision of being a data- and AI-driven economy,” Khuda stated. “We’re bringing together the whole digital ecosystem, combining HUMAIN’s end-to-end AI capabilities with AirTrunk’s leading hyperscale data centre expertise. This announcement strengthens the AirTrunk platform as we deliver world-class digital infrastructure for the cloud and AI across the Asia Pacific and now the Middle East — one of the fastest-growing regions in the world.”
Stephen A. Schwarzman, Chairman, CEO, and Co-Founder of Blackstone, characterized the venture as a key part of the firm's commitment to the global AI revolution. “We are thrilled to help power this next era of innovation in the Middle East and enable AirTrunk’s expansion in this important region,” Schwarzman said. “The AI revolution continues to be one of Blackstone’s highest conviction themes. As the largest provider of data centers globally, we bring scale and expertise to support this initiative, reinforcing our position as a leading investor in digital infrastructure and deepening our presence in the Middle East.”
The agreement represents a significant step in Saudi Arabia's broader strategy to become a global hub for technology and innovation, directly supporting the objectives outlined in its Vision 2030 framework for economic diversification.
SOURCE capacityglobal
