Saudi Arabia Reshapes the Future of the Digital Economy Through Advanced Digital Infrastructure, Global Partnerships

Saudi Arabia has accelerated its transformation into a global hub for artificial intelligence investment by expanding digital infrastructure and forging major partnerships with international technology firms. Data centre capacity in the Kingdom rose from 68 MW in 2021 to more than 467 MW in the first quarter of 2026, supported by investments exceeding SAR56.2 billion in data centres and digital infrastructure. The expansion is complemented by the presence of global cloud providers and a SAR11 billion strategic partnership between HUMAIN and Blackstone, underscoring growing investor confidence.

Direct quote

"The Kingdom hosts operations for Oracle, Alibaba Cloud, and Google Cloud, alongside an SAR11 billion strategic partnership between HUMAIN and Blackstone," the report states, highlighting the scale of international cloud and private equity involvement in Saudi digital projects.

Context and details

Officials and analysts point to a set of competitive advantages that underpin the Kingdom’s appeal for AI and data investment: reliable energy, extensive land for data centre expansion, and a strategic geographic location linking Asia, Africa and Europe. Those factors helped push Saudi Arabia to rank first globally twice in the International Telecommunication Union’s 2026 ICT Development Index, outperforming 159 countries, and to reach approximately 99% digital infrastructure coverage of the population.

Beyond raw capacity and connectivity, Saudi Arabia has sought to shape digital governance and international cooperation. As a leading G20 country in communications and technology, the Kingdom led consensus on a roadmap to define and measure the digital economy and on the adoption of human-centered, trustworthy AI principles. It also contributed to converting the Digital Economy Task Force into a permanent working group to strengthen global digital policy coordination.

Technical trials signal an interest in extending connectivity to underserved regions. Saudi authorities completed a 5G trial using High-Altitude Platform Systems (HAPS) that demonstrated coverage of nearly half a million square kilometres in remote areas and ran the first trial integrating non-terrestrial networks (NTN) with terrestrial networks — experiments presented as potential solutions to bridge the digital divide and accelerate access for unconnected communities.

Performance in AI-specific indicators has also improved markedly. The Kingdom ranked first in the Arab world and 14th globally in the Global AI Index, led the world in AI security, privacy and encryption, and ranked first in women’s empowerment in AI. Saudi Arabia placed third globally in development of advanced AI models and in the share of specialized AI talent, while recording the world’s highest growth rate in specialized talent and ranking fourth globally in attracting international talent.

• Data centre capacity: 68 MW (2021) → >467 MW (Q1 2026)
• Investments in data centres/digital infrastructure: >SAR56.2 billion
• HUMAIN–Blackstone strategic partnership: SAR11 billion
• Digital coverage: ~99% of population
• Women’s participation in tech: rose from 7% to 35%

Outlook

Market observers, including JLL as reported by Bloomberg, expect Riyadh to lead AI-related data centre growth in the Middle East, a forecast that reinforces momentum behind the Kingdom’s positioning as a major destination for AI and cloud investment. With continued infrastructure investment, international partnerships and regulatory engagement at the G20 level, Saudi Arabia aims to convert its connectivity and talent gains into sustained economic diversification and a larger role in the global digital economy.