stc-HUMAIN AI Data Center Joint Venture
Status: Early Development / Partnership Finalized | Location: Multi-site (Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, NEOM), Saudi Arabia
Project Overview
The stc-HUMAIN project marks a monumental shift in the Middle East’s digital landscape, representing the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's most ambitious push toward Sovereign AI to date. This strategic joint venture (JV) is formed between center3 (the digital infrastructure subsidiary of stc group) and HUMAIN (a specialized AI company wholly owned by the Public Investment Fund - PIF). The collaboration is designed to build and operate a next-generation network of AI-native data centers with a long-term goal of reaching 1 Gigawatt (1 GW) of total IT workload capacity.
Announced as a cornerstone of the Saudi Vision 2030 digital economy framework, the first phase of this development focuses on establishing 250 MW of high-density capacity. Unlike traditional cloud facilities, these centers are "AI-first" by design. They are engineered to house massive clusters of the latest GPUs (such as NVIDIA’s Blackwell series) and custom AI accelerators required for training Large Language Models (LLMs), including the world's most advanced Arabic LLMs. The infrastructure is strategically distributed across multiple primary hubs—Riyadh, Jeddah, and NEOM—to ensure low-latency access and high availability for government, enterprise, and research sectors.
Sustainability and energy sovereignty are central to the project's MEP strategy. Despite the harsh desert climate, the campus targets a PUE of 1.20 by utilizing advanced liquid-to-chip cooling and geothermal heat exchange systems. This allows the facility to handle power densities exceeding 80kW per rack, which is nearly ten times the industry average for standard enterprise servers. By integrating with center3’s massive subsea cable network—which links 17+ landing stations across three continents—the stc-HUMAIN project will serve as a global bridge for AI traffic while ensuring that Saudi Arabia maintains absolute control over its national data and computational power.
Quick Facts
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Project Name | stc-HUMAIN AI Data Center Joint Venture |
| Location | Multi-site (Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, NEOM), Saudi Arabia |
| Status | Early Development / Partnership Finalized |
| Commissioning | Phase 1: 2027-2028 (Projected) |
| Total IT Load | 1 GW (Full Buildout Target) |
| Total Capacity | 250 MW (Initial Phase) |
| Tier Level | Tier III / IV (High-Reliability AI Architecture) |
| Project Type | Greenfield / AI-Native / Sovereign Cloud |
City Profile
| Header | Details |
|---|
| City Name | Riyadh (Primary Hub) |
| Population | ~7.6 Million |
| Urban Agglomeration | ~8.2 Million |
| City GDP | ~$250 Billion (Riyadh Region) |
| Per Capita Income | ~$30,000 |
| City Tier | Tier 1 (National Capital / Financial Hub) |
| Key Strengths | Sovereign backing, massive energy reserves, strategic regional hub |
Companies Involved
| Header | Details |
|---|
| Developer / Operator | HUMAIN (51%) & center3 (stc subsidiary) (49%) |
| Strategic Infrastructure Partner | Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) |
| Construction Contractor | To be finalized (Likely localized Saudi-international consortiums) |
| MEP Engineering | Direct-to-Chip Liquid Cooling & High-Efficiency Chillers |
| Network Connectivity | Centre3 Global Subsea/Terrestrial Fiber Backbone |
| Power Infrastructure | Dedicated 1GW High-Voltage Grid Feed |
Technical Specifications
| Header | Details |
|---|
| Power Capacity | 250 MW (Start) scalable to 1,000 MW |
| UPS Redundancy | N+1 / 2N (Software-Defined Power Management) |
| Cooling System | AI-optimized Liquid Cooling (80kW+ per rack capability) |
| Connectivity | Integrated with 17+ Subsea Cable Landing Stations |
| PUE Target | < 1.20 (Challenging desert climate optimization) |
| Energy Mix | High proportion of Solar/Renewable via Saudi Vision 2030 |
Milestones
| Header | Details |
|---|
| Announcement | December 18, 2025 (Joint Venture Formalized) |
| Construction Start | Late 2026 (Projected) |
| Phase 1 Go-Live | 2028 |
| Full Buildout | 2034 |
Investment Details
| Header | Details |
|---|
| Total Investment | Multi-billion USD (Scale of 1GW implies $10B+ over time) |
| Funding | Public Investment Fund (PIF) & stc Group Capital |