Elon Musk’s xAI partners with Saudi Arabia-backed Humain to build 500 MW Data Center

Elon Musk has announced plans for his AI startup xAI to partner with Saudi Arabia’s state-backed AI startup Humain to build a massive 500-megawatt data center powered by Nvidia chips in the kingdom.

The project marks one of the largest Saudi investments in AI infrastructure to date and underlines Riyadh’s ambition to become a global hub for AI.

Musk announced the initiative on Wednesday, November 19, speaking alongside Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang at the US-Saudi investment forum in Washington.

The event also featured scheduled speeches by US President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, reflecting high-level political support behind the emerging US-Saudi technology cooperation.

xAI’s strategic expansion

Musk is rapidly expanding xAI, the company behind the artificial intelligence chatbot Grok, following a dispute with OpenAI, which he co-founded. The billionaire has since positioned xAI as a direct competitor to OpenAI and Anthropic, racing to develop more powerful AI models and provide secure access to high-performance computing chips.

Saudi targets and chip access

Humain, a key player in Saudi Arabia’s artificial intelligence push, is working with Nvidia and other semiconductor suppliers. But the kingdom faces a significant hurdle: U.S. export restrictions on its most advanced artificial intelligence chips.

Bloomberg reported Tuesday that the Trump administration is poised to approve the sale of high-end Nvidia chips to Humain, paving the way for Saudi Arabia to accelerate its AI infrastructure plans.

A massive data center powered by Nvidia

Much larger than typical AI facilities, the planned 500 MW data center will rely heavily on graphics processing units (GPUs) from Nvidia, the gold standard in training and deploying AI models. The partnership provides Musk with a strong new infrastructure foundation for xAI while offering Saudi Arabia a dramatic leap forward.

More details, including timeline, financing and facility location, are expected soon as U.S. officials finalize chip export approvals and construction plans progress.

This is an evolving story. Please check back for updates