The Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Google Cloud have announced a partnership to establish a new global artificial intelligence (AI) hub near Dammam in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province. The partnership, signed at the Future Investment Initiative 8th Edition (FII8), further positions Saudi Arabia as a global hub and top AI destination for local and international enterprises and startups, the official release said.
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AI Hub in Dammam
Located near Dammam, the hub will feature Google Cloud's AI infrastructure, including TPU and GPU accelerators and the Vertex AI platform, enabling businesses to leverage state-of-the-art tools for AI applications. This partnership will also support Arabic AI development through Google's Gemini model, allowing local organisations to build AI solutions tailored for the region.
Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Governor of PIF, said: "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. Saudi Arabia is a prime location for global tech partners as PIF brings both sector expertise and a long-term approach to investment."
Ruth Porat, President and Chief Investment Officer of Alphabet and Google, said: "This strategic partnership will accelerate adoption of AI in the local language and across industries — including healthcare, retail, financial services and more — for enterprises and startups in Saudi Arabia, across the Middle East, Africa and around the world. As part of Saudi Arabia's rich technology ecosystem, we aim to create highly-skilled jobs for Saudis and opportunities for global businesses to fuel growth through cloud adoption."
Arabic-language models
To advance Arabic-language models, PIF and Google Cloud will explore enhancing the Arabic-language capabilities of Gemini — Google's generative AI model family — by integrating additional Arabic datasets with Google Cloud's technology. Local businesses, researchers, and developers will have the opportunity to connect these models to their systems, enabling them to build sophisticated Arabic language AI agents and applications, the release added.
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Economic Impact and Job Creation Forecast
Preliminary research commissioned by Google Cloud and conducted by Access Partnership, a global tech policy advisory firm, estimates the new AI hub could add a cumulative USD 71 billion to Saudi Arabia's GDP over eight years, the joint statement said.
The increased economic activity from AI adoption in Saudi Arabia is expected to support the creation of thousands of highly skilled direct and indirect jobs in industries like healthcare, finance, and retail. This investment aligns with Saudi Arabia's broader ICT goals, aiming for a 50 percent growth in the sector by enhancing tech-driven talent and capabilities.
These new investments build on Google Cloud's existing presence in Saudi Arabia, which includes the Dammam cloud region launched last year, part of Google Cloud's global network of 40 regions.
