Fleeing Data Center Backlash at Home, American AI Startup Sets Up Shop In Saudi Arabia

San Francisco-based Together AI this week announced a partnership with Humain, the Saudi Arabian AI company founded last year by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, that will give Together AI access to 250 megawatts of electricity from data centers inside Saudi Arabia. The deal is part of a broader set of commercial ties linking Humain with global cloud and AI firms — including AWS, xAI (now SpaceXAI), and, as of last week, Microsoft — and comes amid growing local opposition to new data centers in the United States.

"We are strengthening the region’s position as a global hub for AI infrastructure, cloud capabilities, and next-generation AI services," Humain CEO Tareq Amin said in a statement.

Together AI’s CEO and cofounder Vipul Prakash framed the move as a response to mounting resistance at home: “More and more, local communities don’t want data centers in their backyards, and there are a lot of cancellations and moratoriums, so U.S. capacity is becoming even more constrained,” he told the New York Times. The partnership grants Together AI access to significant power capacity in Saudi facilities — capacity that developers in the U.S. are increasingly finding difficult to secure amid public backlash.

The commercial ties fit into a larger geopolitical and investment picture. In May 2025 the U.S. administration signed a reported $600 billion agreement with the Saudi government under which Riyadh agreed to spend $20 billion on new data centers within the United States in exchange for defense equipment and services from more than a dozen U.S. firms. Humain has also signed a deal with American autonomous-vehicle startup Applied Intuition aimed at “deploying thousands of autonomous trucks across key Saudi logistics corridors by 2030,” according to a press release.

• Partners named in recent announcements: Humain, Together AI, AWS, xAI (now SpaceXAI), Microsoft, Applied Intuition.
• Capacity on offer to Together AI: 250 megawatts from Saudi data centers.
• Public sentiment cited: 48% of Americans “strongly oppose” new data centers in their area versus 7% who “strongly favor” construction (Gallup, March).

Critics and analysts warn of risks tied to shifting U.S. AI infrastructure offshore. A Brookings Institution report cited in recent commentary warned that expanding data center construction in Saudi Arabia amid regional tensions “could extend beyond commercial losses and may result in degrading U.S. technological advantage,” accelerating rivals’ capabilities and potentially undermining the integrity of critical AI systems.

Industry actors are positioning their moves as pragmatic responses to constrained domestic capacity and political headwinds. AI developers have touted job creation and efficiency gains for host communities, while U.S. regulators and political leaders have taken differing stances on disclosure and permitting. How these commercial agreements shape supply chains, data governance, and strategic advantage through the rest of the decade will depend on whether businesses accelerate offshore deployments or political pressure in the U.S. eases.