Saudi Arabia's PIF launches Humain, a state-backed AI company

On 12 May 2025, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), the kingdom's sovereign wealth fund, launched Humain, a new artificial intelligence company. The announcement was chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and came during a period of intense Gulf diplomacy and business engagement with the United States.

Humain was set up as a PIF-owned company to develop AI infrastructure and services, including data centres, cloud capacity and AI models, with Arabic-language systems among its stated aims. It was presented as a vehicle to build domestic capability and to attract international technology partners.

The launch mattered because it fitted Vision 2030, the national programme to reduce dependence on oil revenue by developing new sectors such as technology, tourism, logistics and real estate. It signalled that the state intended to direct large capital flows into digital infrastructure, alongside the giga-projects and housing drives that have shaped the kingdom's investment climate since.