• Humain is Saudi Arabia’s recently formed AI infrastructure giant
• It is building huge datacentres
• STC’s digital infrastructure and connectivity subsidiary is to provide data connectivity for Humain’s facilities

STC Group’s datacentre and international connectivity subsidiary, center3, has landed a deal to provide data transport connectivity services to Humain, the new Saudi AI infrastructure and services company launched in May this year. 

That a Saudi AI company would turn to a domestic company for vital connectivity services is no great surprise, but this is a potentially fantastic deal for center3, which greatly enhanced its international portfolio in late 2023 with the acquisition of regional connectivity, security and cloud services provider CMC Networks. 

That’s because Humain isn’t just another AI company – it’s a massive enterprise that is carrying the weight of a major oil nation’s entry into the global and rapidly expanding hyperscale datacentre sector with investment plans running into tens of billions of dollars. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is a very keen proponent of the benefits of AI, which is why the country’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), as awash with cash as you would expect of an oil-rich state of incalculable wealth, invested heavily in Humain, which boasts a mission to “provide a comprehensive range of AI services, products and tools, including next-generation datacentres, AI infrastructure and cloud capabilities, and advanced AI models and solutions” as well as providing “one of the world’s most powerful multimodal Arabic large language models (LLMs)” and “building an AI ecosystem and fostering international AI partnerships.” 

Saudi Arabia is exploiting its strategic geographical location “at the nexus of three continents”, a benefit that enables large volumes of data to be processed locally and regionally. Apparently, Saudi-based datacentres will have a projected capacity of more than 1 gigawatt (GW), but Humain’s plans look further afield than its home market as it aims to “enable capabilities to develop and deliver AI solutions locally, regionally and globally.” 

To help build its AI empire, Humain’s CEO, Tareq Amin, a well-known figure in international telecom and sometime CEO of Rakuten Mobile, struck key partnership agreements with several global technology leaders, including AMD, Cisco, Qualcomm, AWS and Nvidia “to ensure our AI infrastructure is world class, scalable, and built to push the boundaries of what’s possible.” 

But AI infrastructure is just an isolated island of servers without data communications connections, which is where the STC unit comes in. Humain has now signed a “strategic framework agreement” with center3 that will see the STC unit “support Humain’s full-stack AI ecosystem” and provide the connectivity to national and international destinations that will enable Humain to fulfill its stated mission of making the Kingdom “a global hub for artificial intelligence.” 

Amin commented: “Connectivity is fundamental to any world-class AI ecosystem. Our partnership with center3 ensures that Humain has the secure, high-capacity infrastructure needed to scale AI across every sector of the Kingdom. This agreement brings us one step closer to realising Saudi Arabia’s ambition of becoming a global leader in AI.”

Fahad AlHajeri, the CEO of center3, added: “At center3, our mission is to build digital highways that empower innovation. Our significant investments in digital infrastructure have uniquely positioned us to provide the robust connectivity foundation required for a high-performance computing ecosystem of this scale. Partnering with Humain means we are not only enabling groundbreaking technology but also unlocking new opportunities for industries and communities across Saudi Arabia and the wider region.” 

– Martyn Warwick, Editor in Chief, TelecomTV