AMD and Cisco have formed a joint venture (JV) with state-backed Saudi AI firm Humain to deliver 1GW of AI infrastructure in the Kingdom over the next five years.

The JV will combine Humain’s data centers with AMD’s GPUs and Cisco’s networking infrastructure, with the aim of delivering 1GW of capacity by 2030. All three companies are described as “founding investors,” though the size and nature of these investments has not been disclosed.

In the first phase, a 100MW deployment will be made in Saudi Arabia. The host data center has not been confirmed, but it will likely be one of the 100MW data centers Humain is currently constructing in Riyadh and Dammam. These are expected to come online in the second quarter of 2026.

For this deployment, AMD will provide Instinct MI450 Series GPUs alongside Cisco’s “industry-leading critical infrastructure.” According to Reuters, the first customer of the JV will be generative video firm Luna AI, which has agreed to lease an undisclosed amount of space.

Dr. Lisa Su, chair and CEO of AMD, said: “Together with Humain and Cisco, we’re combining leadership compute and networking technologies to expand the capacity and global competitiveness of the Kingdom’s AI ecosystem. As part of this deepening collaboration, we’re also establishing an AMD Center of Excellence in Saudi Arabia to further accelerate local integration and innovation.”

Humain, which is backed by PIF, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, announced a $10 billion deal with AMD back in May, with the partners committing to develop 500MW of AI infrastructure by 2030 as part of a $10 billion agreement. It is unclear whether today’s announcement is separate from or part of this. DCD has contacted the companies for comment.

Cisco joined the Humain party in May, becoming a partner of the firm on its data center build-out.

Chuck Robbins, chair and CEO of Cisco said the partnership “will mark a pivotal moment in accelerating Saudi Arabia’s AI infrastructure.”

“By providing secure, scalable, critical infrastructure for Humain’s up to 1GW build-out, Cisco will help the Kingdom turn its vision for a digitally advanced, AI-powered economy into a reality.”

Humain was established in May 2025 with the aim of delivering 6.6GW of data center capacity over the next decade.

It has agreed to buy 18,000 Nvidia GB300 chips – with "several hundred thousand" more on the way, according to Humain – and partnered with AWS for a $5 billion 'AI Zone,' and deployed Groq chips for inference.

On Wednesday it was reported that US President Donald Trump had approved the shipment of US-made AI chips to Saudi Arabia for the data centers.

Tareq Amin, CEO of Humain, said: “Our partnership with AMD and Cisco brings world-class technology and expertise to our mission. Together, we are pushing the frontier of AI compute, bringing up to 1GW of high-performance, cost-efficient infrastructure online in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to empower innovators both in the Kingdom and around the world.”