Google Cloud and the Public Investment Fund (PIF) have signed an agreement to develop a global artificial intelligence (AI) hub in Saudi Arabia.
The facility will be located near Dammam, and will give customers access to Google Cloud's technology for AI workloads.
The agreement is subject to regulatory approvals, but should it go through will see Google and PIF conducting joint research on Arabic language models as well as Saudi-specific AI applications.
Work will also be done to improve the Arabic capabilities of Google's generative AI model, Gemini, by integrating additional Arabic datasets. Local organizations will be able to connect models produced through the partnership to their systems.
The hub will feature AI infrastructure including Google's latest generation of tensor processing units (TPUs), GPUs, and the Vertex AI platform.
In addition, the two organizations will work together to train "millions" of students and professionals through AI programs to support Saudi Arabia's goal of growing the ICT sector by 50 percent.
Of the partnership, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo told DCD in a statement: “AI is the defining technology of our generation and demands engagement between governments and industry to see that it is developed, deployed, and adopted safely, and to protect our national security. This new industry partnership between Google Cloud and Public Investment Fund is an example of that type of necessary engagement and has the potential to safely unlock the benefits for partners in the Middle East.
"It also further underscores the importance of international partners’ commitment to addressing shared challenges and opportunities spurred by advances in AI.”
Ruth Porat, president and CIO of Alphabet and Google, said the partnership would “accelerate [the] adoption of AI in the local language and across industries including healthcare, retail, financial services and more, for enterprises and start-ups in Saudi Arabia, across the Middle East, Africa and around the world.
“As part of Saudi Arabia’s vibrant technology ecosystem, we aim to create highly skilled jobs for Saudis and provide opportunities for global businesses to drive growth through cloud adoption."
Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of PIF, added: "We are delighted to welcome this new Google Cloud AI hub to Saudi Arabia. This partnership demonstrates PIF's dedication to fostering an AI-friendly environment through investments in human capital and technology, upskilling thousands with cutting-edge tools to support our sustainable and innovative infrastructure goals."
PIF is the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia. It was created in 1971 with the purpose of investing on behalf of the Saudi government.
Google launched a cloud region in Saudi Arabia in November 2023, located in Dammam.
The company had been in discussions with Saudi oil firm Aramco about a data center joint venture since early 2018, and plans for a GCP region in Saudi were officially announced in late 2020.
