APAC data center operator AirTrunk is expanding into the Middle East after partnering with Saudi AI firm Humain.

The two companies have agreed to establish a $3 billion strategic partnership to build data centers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The move marks AirTrunk’s first move into the Gulf region.

The firms said they would, along with AirTrunk investor Blackstone, develop a “long-term strategic partnership” focused on financing, developing, and operating next-generation data centers and AI infrastructure across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”

“The parties will cooperate across several key areas, including data center design, construction, and operation; financing through equity and debt; and go-to-market initiatives to attract hyperscalers and enterprise clients.”

Details of any planned facilities built under the partnership weren’t shared.

Humain is an AI venture established in May 2025 as a subsidiary of the country's Public Investment Fund (PIF) with the aim of delivering 6.6GW of data center capacity over the next decade.

The company is developing its own data centers as well as using capacity from other operators to host thousands of Nvidia and AMD GPUs, as well as hardware from Groq and Qualcomm.

Tareq Amin, Humain CEO, said: “Together with AirTrunk and Blackstone, Humain is strengthening the technological infrastructure that underpins the Kingdom’s digital economy. This partnership marks a pivotal moment in creating scalable, secure, and sustainable data center capacity to support the rapid growth of AI and cloud computing.”

Founded in 2018, AirTrunk was acquired by Blackstone and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board for US$16.1bn last year in what was the largest-ever deal in the space at the time.

AirTrunk has data center campuses in operation and development in Singapore; Hong Kong; Johor, Malaysia; Tokyo (x2) and Osaka, Japan; Sydney (x3), and Melbourne, Australia.

Robin Khuda, AirTrunk founder and CEO, added: “Our strategic partnership with HUmain, a key player in the region, will support Saudi Arabia to realize its vision of being a data- and AI-driven economy. This announcement strengthens the AirTrunk data center platform as we deliver world-class digital infrastructure for the cloud and AI across the Asia Pacific and now the Middle East, which is one of the fastest-growing regions in the world.”

Blackstone CEO and co-founder, Stephen A. Schwarzman, said: “The AI revolution continues to be one of Blackstone’s highest conviction themes, and we bring scale and expertise across the ecosystem as the largest provider of data centers globally and a significant investor in related services and infrastructure.

"This initiative reinforces Blackstone’s position as one of the world’s leading investors in digital infrastructure and marks a commitment to deepening our presence in the Middle East.”