Saudi Telecom's Center3 and AI Firm Humain Form JV to Build 1GW of AI Data Centers
December 18, 2025
In a major move to solidify Saudi Arabia's position as a regional hub for artificial intelligence, Saudi Telecom Company (STC) has partnered with the kingdom's sovereign AI venture to develop a massive new data center platform. The collaboration underscores the intense global competition to build the high-capacity, low-latency infrastructure required to power the next generation of AI applications and services.
STC's digital infrastructure subsidiary, Center3, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Humain on December 18 to establish a new joint venture focused on AI data centers. The partnership aims to develop and operate up to 1 gigawatt (GW) of total IT capacity within Saudi Arabia. The joint venture will be majority-owned by Humain, which holds a 51 percent stake, with Center3 controlling the remaining 49 percent.
The initial phase of the project will target 250 megawatts of capacity, contingent on securing firm customer commitments. According to the agreement, the venture is designed to combine "Center3’s scale, data-center leadership, and extensive regional connectivity with HUMAIN’s strategic mandate to champion end-to-end capabilities – laying the groundwork for high-capacity, low-latency infrastructure critical to the AI era." The MoU is set for a six-month term to formalize the partnership.
This deal significantly accelerates both companies' ambitious capacity roadmaps. Center3, established in 2022 and already operating or developing about 20 facilities in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, had previously targeted 300MW by 2027 and 1GW by 2030. Humain, a subsidiary of the powerful Public Investment Fund (PIF) launched in May 2025, has an even more aggressive goal of delivering 6.6GW of data center capacity over the next decade to host thousands of advanced Nvidia GPUs. The two entities had previously collaborated on a connectivity agreement in October 2025.
The formation of this joint venture represents a strategic consolidation of national resources, positioning Saudi Arabia to capture a larger share of the fast-growing AI compute market. By leveraging STC's telecom and infrastructure expertise with Humain's AI-focused mandate and state backing, the kingdom aims to create an integrated ecosystem that can attract global cloud and AI companies seeking scalable, sovereign infrastructure in the Middle East.
Source: datacenterdynamics
