Saudi Arabia's Humain Invests $3 Billion in xAI - Hardware Busters

Saudi Arabia’s AI company Humain has invested $3 billion in Elon Musk’s xAI as part of the startup’s Series E funding round, the firms said, making Humain a “significant minority shareholder” and tying the kingdom more closely to Musk’s expanding technology empire. The investment was announced Wednesday and will convert into SpaceX shares after xAI was acquired by Musk’s SpaceX in a merger that valued the combined company at $1.25 trillion, with Humain’s holdings estimated to represent roughly 0.24% ownership of the merged entity, according to Bloomberg estimates.

"Together, these initiatives deepen long-term alignment and extend Humain's role from strategic partner to leading global shareholder in xAI," Humain said in a statement.

Context and deal specifics

Humain — formed in 2025 with backing from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) — participated in an upsized $20 billion Series E round for xAI in January 2026 intended to accelerate deployment of new models and infrastructure. Humain’s $3 billion commitment is the latest in a series of high-profile moves: the company has previously invested in video-generation startup Luma AI and established a joint venture with Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Cisco Systems to build data center capacity in Saudi Arabia.

The investment builds on a partnership first announced in November 2025 at the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum, where Humain and xAI pledged to jointly develop 500 megawatts of AI data center infrastructure on Saudi soil and to roll out xAI’s Grok models in the kingdom. Grok, xAI’s chatbot integrated with X (formerly Twitter), currently trails OpenAI’s ChatGPT in adoption but forms a central part of xAI’s commercial strategy.

• Humain investment: $3 billion
• xAI Series E total: $20 billion (January 2026)
• Merged valuation (xAI + SpaceX): $1.25 trillion
• Humain’s estimated ownership in combined company: ~0.24% (Bloomberg)
• Planned local infrastructure: 500 megawatts of AI data center capacity

xAI has secured early contracts with U.S. government entities including the Pentagon, and international agreements such as a deal with El Salvador to deploy Grok in the education system. The startup’s largest customers to date have been Musk’s companies, SpaceX and Tesla. Shortly after closing the Series E, Musk consolidated xAI into SpaceX — a move he said created an "innovation engine" combining AI, rockets, and space-based internet.

Outlook

Humain’s $3 billion stake gives Saudi Arabia not only a financial interest in one of the most valuable private companies in the world but also privileged access to compute infrastructure and AI products as they are rolled out in the kingdom. Humain framed the move as part of a broader national push to “capitalize on the growing demand for compute capacity and diversify revenue sources away from oil,” underscoring how Gulf sovereign funds are accelerating AI investments. Similar regional activity includes the Qatar Investment Authority’s participation in Anthropic’s $13 billion financing in September 2025 and Abu Dhabi’s MGX leading multiple AI deals.

For xAI and SpaceX, the deal delivers deep-pocketed partners and regional infrastructure partners to scale models and commercial deployments; for Saudi Arabia, Humain’s stake cements a role as both investor and builder in the global AI race.