Business

Saudi Arabia's Humain plans South Korea expansion with strategic AI partnerships at COMEUP 2025

Monday, 24 November 2025 12:03AM UTC

Humain CEO Tareq Amin's upcoming visit to South Korea marks a pivotal step in expanding Saudi Arabia's AI ecosystem through strategic partnerships, infrastructure development, and international collaborations at COMEUP 2025.

As Saudi Arabia intensifies its push to become a global leader in the artificial intelligence (AI) era, Humain CEO Tareq Amin is set to embark on his first official visit to South Korea in December 2025. This visit, timed with Korea’s global startup event COMEUP 2025, marks a significant step in advancing AI cooperation from mere strategic dialogue to active infrastructure and innovation partnerships between the two nations. Industry insiders are keenly observing Amin's engagements with major Korean AI stakeholders, including technology giants and government ministries, signifying a pivotal move toward intertwining AI innovation, investment, and data ecosystems across Asia and the Middle East.

Humain, under Amin’s leadership, is a Saudi state-backed AI company funded by the Public Investment Fund (PIF). It sits at the core of Saudi Arabia’s national AI vision, overseeing generative AI development, sovereign data initiatives, and vast computing infrastructure projects like the recently announced 500MW AI data centre collaboration with xAI and NVIDIA. Amin's meetings with figures such as Han Seong-sook, Minister of SMEs and Startups, and Bae Kyung-hoon, Minister of Science and ICT, aim to explore joint AI research and development programs, deep-tech startup cooperation, and data infrastructure initiatives that could reshape AI deployment and governance in both regions. A government source underscored that Saudi Arabia is making "unprecedented" investments in AI infrastructure, anticipating this visit to widen the bilateral technological cooperation horizon.

Beyond official talks, Amin’s private agenda includes discussions with Korean AI leaders such as Naver and SK Telecom. His planned meeting with Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon is expected to focus on leveraging Naver's HyperCLOVA X platform to develop generative AI services tailored for Middle Eastern markets, reflecting Naver’s growing ambitions as a bridge between Asian and Middle Eastern AI ecosystems. Meanwhile, dialogue with SK Telecom's AI leadership will explore collaboration on large language model development and engagement in SK Telecom’s global AI alliance, signaling a shared commitment to global AI innovation. Amin will also engage with major venture capital firms like Korea Venture Investment Corp (KVIC), Atinum Investment, and IMM Investment to facilitate Korean deep-tech and AI startups expanding into Saudi Arabia and the wider MENA region. His keynote at COMEUP 2025 will outline Saudi Arabia's AI strategy and its vision for sovereign AI infrastructure, highlighting COMEUP’s emerging role as a nexus for global AI diplomatic and investment cooperation.

Humain is also reportedly planning to establish a Korean subsidiary named Humain Korea, aimed at embedding the company’s presence in Northeast Asia and fostering long-term partnerships with Korean AI startups, data centres, and semiconductor firms. This move aligns with Saudi Arabia’s broader objective of building "sovereign AI" , national-level AI infrastructure that ensures autonomy over computing power and data governance through regional collaboration. Industry insiders note that the scale of Saudi AI investment is "beyond imagination," and the establishment of Humain Korea could vastly increase market access for Korean AI and deep-tech startups targeting opportunities in the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia’s ambitions in AI are supported by significant international partnerships. Humain recently announced a joint venture with tech giants Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Cisco Systems to develop Middle Eastern data centres, beginning with a 100-megawatt facility in Saudi Arabia, already secured by the generative video startup Luma AI as its first major customer. In parallel, Adobe and Qualcomm have allied with Humain to design generative AI tools customized for Arabic content and regional needs, highlighting the strategic significance of AI tailored to linguistic and cultural contexts. This international technology influx is part of Saudi Arabia’s expansive AI investment strategy, backed by the PIF and bolstered by collaborations with major global semiconductor providers including NVIDIA, AMD, Qualcomm, and Groq.

Humain’s data centre projects are advancing swiftly, targeting operational launches in early 2026. Their Riyadh and Dammam facilities each start with a 100-megawatt capacity powered by cutting-edge U.S. semiconductor technology, including NVIDIA’s latest "Blackwell" AI chips. NVIDIA is committed to supplying Humain with an initial shipment of 18,000 chips, part of a broader contract involving hundreds of thousands of units to support large-scale AI computing needs. Additionally, Humain has announced a strategic partnership with Global AI, a U.S.-based sovereign AI infrastructure company, to accelerate the buildout of AI data centres and computational capacity in the United States, further underlining Humain’s role as a global AI infrastructure player.

The company’s ambitions also extend to financial markets, with plans to pursue a dual listing on both the Saudi stock exchange and NASDAQ within the next three to four years. This public offering strategy signals Humain’s intention to attract global investors and cement its position as a leader in the burgeoning AI economy.

Saudi Arabia’s AI drive has attracted high-profile attention, including from figures such as former U.S. President Donald Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, underscoring AI’s centrality to the kingdom’s economic transformation agenda and international investment efforts. The kingdom’s vision to become a sovereign AI data hub powered by its vast energy resources reflects a broader geopolitical shift where AI and digital sovereignty become intertwined with national technological ambition and economic strategy.

Tareq Amin’s forthcoming visit to South Korea and Humain’s expanding global footprint represent more than commercial interests. They symbolize an emerging paradigm in AI cooperation, one that balances technological advancement with national sovereignty, ethical considerations, and geopolitical dynamics. If successful, the Saudi-Korea collaboration could set a model for responsible AI leadership, fostering innovation that not only spurs economic growth but also safeguards data governance amid a rapidly evolving digital landscape. COMEUP 2025 may well be remembered as the moment when this innovative Saudi-Korean AI partnership took root, potentially reshaping the mechanisms of international collaboration in the era of intelligent infrastructure.

📌 Reference Map:

^[1] KoreaTechDesk - Paragraph 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
^[2] Reuters - Paragraph 7
^[3] Reuters - Paragraph 8
^[4] AP News - Paragraph 9
^[5] Reuters - Paragraph 9
^[6] Reuters - Paragraph 7
^[7] PR Newswire - Paragraph 7

Source: Noah Wire Services

More on this

https://koreatechdesk.com/humain-ceo-tareq-amin-first-korea-visit-saudi-arabia-ai-collaboration - Please view link - unable to able to access data
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/amd-cisco-saudis-humain-launch-ai-joint-venture-land-first-major-customer-2025-11-19/ - Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Cisco Systems, and Saudi Arabian AI startup Humain have announced a joint venture to develop data centers in the Middle East, targeting a global market of approximately 4.5 billion people across Asia, Europe, India, the Middle East, and Africa. The venture's first project is a 100-megawatt data center in Saudi Arabia, with its full capacity contracted by generative video startup Luma AI. This marks Luma as the JV’s inaugural customer.
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/adobe-qualcomm-partner-with-humain-generative-ai-middle-east-2025-11-19/ - Adobe and Qualcomm have partnered with Humain, an artificial intelligence firm backed by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, to develop generative AI tools tailored for Arabic content and the broader Middle East region. This collaboration, announced during a U.S.-Saudi investment forum in Washington, underscores growing international tech investments tied to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's visit to the U.S.
https://apnews.com/article/a36f65bd1c524b2e7ce456e63adaa696 - In a high-profile event in Washington, D.C., President Donald Trump highlighted the central role of artificial intelligence (AI) in his economic strategy during a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The crown prince pledged $1 trillion in U.S. investments aimed at transforming Saudi Arabia into an AI data hub, underpinned by its vast energy resources. Trump, asserting credit for recent stock market gains and AI-related investments, emphasized the urgency of leading the global AI ecosystem.
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/saudi-ai-firm-humain-eyes-dual-listing-on-saudi-nasdaq-exchanges-within-four-years-2025-10-28/ - Saudi Arabian AI firm Humain, launched in May under the PIF sovereign wealth fund, aims to become a global artificial intelligence leader. CEO Tareq Amin announced plans for a dual public listing on the Saudi and NASDAQ stock exchanges within the next three to four years, signaling the company’s ambitious growth strategy. A key supplier of AI chips—though unnamed—is reportedly considering investing in Humain. Currently, the company sources chips from NVIDIA, AMD, Qualcomm, and Groq to power its large-scale data centers and AI platform.
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/saudis-humain-launch-data-centers-with-us-chips-early-2026-bloomberg-news-2025-08-25/ - Saudi Arabia’s new AI company, Humain, has commenced construction of its first data centers, aiming for an early 2026 launch. The facilities, located in Riyadh and Dammam, are each expected to start with a 100-megawatt capacity. To power these centers, Humain is importing advanced semiconductors from U.S. firms, including Nvidia’s latest "Blackwell" AI chips, which have received local regulatory approval. Nvidia plans to send an initial shipment of 18,000 chips to Humain, as part of a larger commitment involving hundreds of thousands of units.
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/humain-forges-partnership-with-global-ai-to-build-large-scale-ai-data-centers--compute-capacity-in-the-us-and-globally-with-the-latest-nvidia-ai-infrastructure-302620669.html - At the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum, HUMAIN, a PIF company delivering global full-stack artificial intelligence solutions, announced a strategic partnership with Global AI, an American sovereign AI infrastructure company headquartered in New York. The collaboration aims to accelerate the expansion of AI infrastructure globally, delivering large-scale AI data center and compute capacity in the United States. The facilities will provide AI infrastructure services for enterprise, public-sector, and AI-model-development partners, enabling model training, large-scale inference, and sovereign-cloud integration within locally governed ecosystems with access to the latest NVIDIA AI infrastructure.

Noah Fact Check Pro

The draft above was created using the information available at the time the story first emerged. We’ve since applied our fact-checking process to the final narrative, based on the criteria listed below. The results are intended to help you assess the credibility of the piece and highlight any areas that may warrant further investigation.

Freshness check

Score: 10

Notes: The narrative is recent, published on November 24, 2025, and pertains to an upcoming event in December 2025. No earlier versions or recycled content were identified. The report is based on a press release, which typically warrants a high freshness score. No discrepancies in figures, dates, or quotes were found. No similar content appeared more than 7 days earlier. The article includes updated data and new material, justifying a higher freshness score.

Quotes check

Score: 10

Notes: The direct quotes from government sources and industry insiders are unique to this report. No identical quotes were found in earlier material, indicating original content. No variations in quote wording were noted.

Source reliability

Score: 8

Notes: The narrative originates from KoreaTechDesk, a source that appears to be obscure and unverifiable. This raises some uncertainty regarding the reliability of the information presented.

Plausability check

Score: 9

Notes: The claims about Humain's upcoming visit to South Korea and the planned meetings with Korean AI leaders are plausible and align with Saudi Arabia's recent AI initiatives. However, the lack of supporting detail from other reputable outlets and the unusual phrasing in the article raise some concerns. The tone is somewhat dramatic, which is atypical for corporate or official language.

Overall assessment

Verdict (FAIL, OPEN, PASS): FAIL

Confidence (LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH): MEDIUM

Summary: While the narrative is recent and includes original quotes, the reliance on an obscure source and the lack of supporting detail from other reputable outlets raise significant concerns. The unusual phrasing and dramatic tone further diminish the credibility of the report. Therefore, the overall assessment is a 'FAIL' with medium confidence.

Saudi Arabia
AI
International cooperation