Pranav Hotkar
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – January 1, 2026 - Saudi Arabia has officially begun construction on what it describes as the world’s largest government-owned data center, marking a major milestone in the Kingdom’s push to scale national digital and artificial intelligence infrastructure under Vision 2030.
The project, known as the Hexagon Data Center, is being developed by the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) in Riyadh. Government officials laid the foundation stone this week, formally launching work on a facility designed to provide ultra-high availability computing capacity for critical government platforms and national data systems.
According to details released by Saudi authorities, the Hexagon complex will span approximately 30 million square feet and deliver up to 480 megawatts of power capacity when fully built out. The data center is being engineered to Tier IV standards, the highest classification under the Uptime Institute framework, signaling maximum redundancy and fault tolerance for mission-critical operations.
SDAIA President Dr. Abdullah bin Sharaf Alghamdi, speaking at the foundation ceremony, said the project would serve as a cornerstone of Saudi Arabia’s digital government infrastructure. He emphasized that the facility is intended to ensure continuity, security, and scalability for national data platforms as demand for AI-driven services accelerates across public sector institutions.
The Hexagon Data Center is expected to play a central role in supporting cloud services, big data analytics, and artificial intelligence workloads used by government agencies. Officials said the facility will enhance data sovereignty by keeping sensitive government information within the Kingdom while enabling advanced analytics and AI model deployment at scale.
Saudi state media reported that the center will incorporate international engineering certifications and advanced energy management systems, reflecting an effort to balance large-scale compute growth with efficiency and sustainability considerations. SDAIA officials noted that the project aligns with national goals to modernize digital infrastructure while improving reliability and resilience across public services.
The launch of the Hexagon project comes amid a broader expansion of data center capacity across Saudi Arabia, driven by government digitization programs, rising cloud adoption, and growing interest from global technology firms. Analysts see government-backed developments of this scale as signals of the Kingdom’s intent to position itself as a regional hub for AI and advanced data services.
Construction timelines have not been publicly disclosed, but officials indicated the facility will be delivered in phases, with capacity coming online progressively. Once operational, Hexagon is expected to underpin a wide range of digital government initiatives and reinforce Saudi Arabia’s long-term strategy to build a competitive, data-driven economy.
