On the desert plot of Al Saad in Riyadh, a blueprint for the construction of a super large data center facing high-density AI computing power has been laid out. In October 2026, Saudi local artificial intelligence enterprise HUMAIN officially released the EPC bidding for a 100MW artificial intelligence data center in the region, with an estimated contract amount of about 1 billion US dollars. The bidding deadline is November 8, 2026, and the construction of Saudi AI computing infrastructure has entered the full speed landing stage.

Clear technical and construction nodes for high-density AI computing power projects

The total area of the project site is approximately 350200 square meters. In the initial stage, two single story IT buildings will be constructed, with four 25MW data halls to be delivered in two phases. Subsequently, 100MW of optional expansion space will be reserved, and the total capacity can be expanded up to 200MW. The project is fully designed for high-density GPU clusters and AI computing loads, using a heat dissipation solution combining chip direct connection liquid cooling and air cooling systems. The cabinet power density reaches 240 to 250kW, and high reliability power supply and distribution, UPS, and backup power generation systems will be synchronously configured to fully match the extreme computing power needs of large model training.

According to the current construction plan, the first phase of the project is scheduled to reach a service state by October 2028, the second phase will be officially put into operation in January 2029, and the optional expansion phase target will be put into operation in July 2029. The overall project construction period is limited to 25 months. In the first three quarters of 2026, the planned installed capacity of AI data centers in Saudi Arabia increased by 127% year-on-year, and the construction demand for high-power density computing infrastructure in the local area is in a period of concentrated release.

Middle East computing power market unleashes new opportunities for going global

HUMAIN, as the core body of Saudi Arabia's national level AI computing power layout, relies on the overall strategy of Saudi Arabia's 2030 vision. Its gigawatt level data center cluster planning not only serves Saudi Arabia's local computing power needs, but also undertakes international AI training and inference workloads globally, with the goal of building Saudi Arabia into a global computing power export hub. Previously, HUMAIN had reached cooperation agreements with international technology companies such as NVIDIA and Amazon, and the AI computing power demand of a large number of international top tenants is continuously landing.

This bidding covers the entire chain of professional projects including data center civil engineering, mechanical and electrical installation, liquid cooling, power supply and distribution, and commissioning, providing a core window for Chinese data center EPC enterprises, mechanical and electrical contractors, and related equipment suppliers to directly enter the high-end computing market in the Middle East. The current project is still in the public bidding stage and the winning bidder has not yet been determined. Participating companies can submit a complete bidding plan before November 8, 2026, to seize the market dividend of Saudi Arabia's AI infrastructure expansion. Keywords: AI data center, computing power

The new infrastructure of supercomputing in the desert is rapidly emerging, and the landing of this high-power density AI data center will create a global AI computing hub for Saudi Arabia and provide key hardware support.Editor/Cheng Liting