Saudi Arabia's NEOM Secures $5 Billion Investment for AI Data Center

Saudi Arabia to invest $5 bn in AI data center

A Saudi company will invest $5 billion to build an artificial intelligence data center in the futuristic city of NEOM, state media reported. The agreement, signed between DataVolt and NEOM, would fund the creation of a fully sustainable AI data center with a 1.5 gigawatt capacity, the official SPA news agency said. The project will be located in Oxagon, an industrial city within NEOM, which the kingdom aims to transform into the world's largest floating industrial complex. The NEOM project, unveiled by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, features a mirrored building dubbed The Line stretching 170 kilometers (105 miles) across the desert from the Gulf of Aqaba. When announcing The Line in 2022, Prince Mohammed said it would house more than one million residents by 2030 and nine million by 2045. But developers have since revised those projections to 300,000 residents by the end of the decade, according to Bloomberg. In late October, Saudi Arabia announced the opening of Sindalah, a luxury resort on the Red Sea, marking NEOM's first operational project. NEOM is part of the broader "Vision 2030" initiative, aimed at ensuring the future development of the world's largest oil exporter in a post-oil world.

Saudi Neom, DataVolt sign agreement for $5 billion AI project

CAIRO, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's NEOM, a Red Sea urban and industrial development, has signed a deal with DataVolt to develop a 1.5 gigawatt (GW) net zero artificial intelligence project in its Oxagon industrial zone, the Saudi state news agency reported on Monday. The project, which will operate as an integrated data centre, would see investment worth $5 billion in the first phase, SPA reported, adding it is set to be operational in 2028. It comes as the kingdom races to become an artificial intelligence hub, amid regional competition from the UAE and Qatar, capitalising on booming demand for generative AI technology, which requires vast amounts of processing power. Last year, the governor of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) Yasir Al-Rumayyan pitched the kingdom as a prospective hub for artificial intelligence activity outside the United States, citing its energy resources and funding capacity. A plan by the Saudi government to create a fund of about $40 billion channelled for AI with foreign partners was said to be in the works last year. NEOM, a development nearly the size of Belgium that is meant to eventually house 9 million people, is central to Saudi Arabia's economic diversification plan dubbed "Vision 2030" and aimed at cutting dependence on oil revenue. NEOM says on its website that Oxagon is set to become an industrial city powered by renewable energy. However, the kingdom has scaled back some lofty ambitions to prioritize completing elements essential to hosting global sporting events over the next decade as rising costs weigh, sources told Reuters in November. (Reporting by Menna Alaa El-Din and Nayera Abdallah Editing by Tomasz Janowski and David Evans)

Saudi Neom, DataVolt sign agreement for $5 billion AI project

CAIRO, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's NEOM, a Red Sea urban and industrial development, has signed a deal with DataVolt to develop a 1.5 gigawatt (GW) net zero artificial intelligence project in its Oxagon industrial zone, the Saudi state news agency reported on Monday. The project, which will operate as an integrated data centre, would see investment worth $5 billion in the first phase, SPA reported, adding it is set to be operational in 2028. It comes as the kingdom races to become an artificial intelligence hub, amid regional competition from the UAE and Qatar, capitalising on booming demand for generative AI technology, which requires vast amounts of processing power. Last year, the governor of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) Yasir Al-Rumayyan pitched the kingdom as a prospective hub for artificial intelligence activity outside the United States, citing its energy resources and funding capacity. A plan by the Saudi government to create a fund of about $40 billion channelled for AI with foreign partners was said to be in the works last year. NEOM, a development nearly the size of Belgium that is meant to eventually house 9 million people, is central to Saudi Arabia's economic diversification plan dubbed "Vision 2030" and aimed at cutting dependence on oil revenue. NEOM says on its website that Oxagon is set to become an industrial city powered by renewable energy. However, the kingdom has scaled back some lofty ambitions to prioritize completing elements essential to hosting global sporting events over the next decade as rising costs weigh, sources told Reuters in November. Reporting by Menna Alaa El-Din and Nayera Abdallah Editing by Tomasz Janowski and David Evans Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab Suggested Topics:Artificial IntelligenceGrid & Infrastructure

Saudi Arabia's Neom Signs $5 Billion Deal for AI Data Center

Saudi Arabia's Neom, the megacity being developed on the Red Sea coast, secured a $5 billion investment from a local firm to establish an AI data center. The deal with Saudi-based DataVolt will see the company inject that money into the first phase of the project, expected to be operational by 2028, according to statements from Neom and the Saudi Press Agency. The 1.5-gigawatt site will be housed in Oxagon, an industrial hub within Neom.

As its megacities continue to grow, Saudi Arabia bets big on AI

Nobody can reasonably accuse Saudi Arabia of lacking ambition. Along with all the other projects it has going on at the moment, the kingdom has inked a deal with data center firm DataVolt to build what it calls the region's first "truly sustainable" AI hub. The AI facility is expected to be operational by 2028 and is planned for Neom's Oxagon district, which is a huge partially floating industrial port city envisioned as the powerhouse of the ongoing Saudi Arabian transformation from an oil-based economy into a tourism and innovation center. A desalination plant, a green hydrogen plant, and an oceanographic research center are all planned for the district too. Details are still light on the 1.5-gigawatt data center at this early stage, but we do know that the initial investment is US$5 billion and that the ambition is for it to run on renewables like wind and solar. However, considering the huge amount of energy it'll require and without finer details, we'd recommend taking such plans with a pinch of salt for now. "As part of the agreement, Oxagon will lease DataVolt the land for the development of the facility and provide the sustainable data center operator with infrastructure support," says the press release. "The ambition is for the facility to be entirely powered by renewable energy, providing a fully integrated, end-to-end data center solution. The project will utilize advanced cooling technologies and is designed to operate at net zero, addressing the global challenges of power availability and the carbon footprint posed by data centers." Alongside its general ambition to become a "digital powerhouse" in the region, authorities have previously mentioned the use of artificial intelligence technologies to keep track of every aspect of the daily lives of those within in its futuristic megacity, the Line. It all sounds pretty dystopian but Saudi authorities aim to have 300,000 people living in the Line by 2030 and the plan is for this to eventually rise to 9 million. As such, the logistical challenge of keeping track of water requirements, power usage, garbage disposal and all the other things that make a city tick over is going to be immense - so leveraging monitoring technologies and AI to help automate the management of such things makes a lot of sense. That's about all we know for the moment, but this is a colossal architecture, engineering and technology project with lots of massive pieces to fit together. We've already seen the completion of the Sindalah island getaway, but there are breathtaking hotels, skyscrapers, bridges, marinas and more to come. We'll keep you posted.

Neom, Saudi Arabia's Dystopian Desert City Project, Announces $5 Billion AI Data Center

The urban development project has often seemed pie-in-the-sky. A new "energy efficient" data center project promises more of the same. They say data is the new oil. If that's the case, it makes total sense that the oil kings of the last century are trying to become the data kings of this one. That's a longwinded way of saying Saudi Arabia (the aforementioned oil kings) have announced a new multi-billion dollar AI data center project. The project is said to be part of Neom, the ridiculously expensive, multi-trillion dollar urban development effort based along the Saudi Arabian coast. On Tuesday, the deal between Neom (a private company owned by the nation's Public Investment Fund) and a sustainable data center developer named DataVolt was announced via press release. Neom called the $5 billion deal a "landmark agreement, marking a significant step toward realizing the Kingdom’s vision for a sustainable, data-driven economy." Hearing Saudi Arabia talk about "sustainability" is pretty much the weirdest thing ever, but here we are. Supposedly, this deal is going to usher in new "energy efficient" methods of data consumption. You'll excuse me if I don't hold my breath on that one. The new data center will allegedly be built in Neom's "Oxagon" region, a "floating" industrial port city that is being constructed along the Red Sea coast. The factory will "integrate a wide range of computing densities and energy-efficient architectures to address the global challenges posed by traditional data centers," the press release claims. “This agreement with NEOM and Oxagon underscores our unwavering commitment to support the Kingdom’s vision of becoming a regional digital and AI hub," said Rajit Nanda, CEO of DataVolt. "The Kingdom’s strategic location, coupled with its abundant green energy resources, aligns perfectly with DataVolt’s mission in providing state-of-the-art sustainable data centers.†The deal illustrates the Saudis' interest in becoming a bedrock investor in the artificial intelligence industry. The Saudis have fostered connections with many of America's top AI companies and, last year, the Kingdom also announced a new $40 billion fund to channel money into various AI projects. The Saudis close friend and neighbor, the United Arab Emirates, are also known for being one of the largest donors to Stargate, the recently announced Silicon Valley project to construct AI data centers throughout the U.S. As a project, Neom hasn't otherwise been going that great. Despite the titanic ambitions that originally characterized the city-building effort, the Saudis have perpetually had to scale back their plansâ€"to the point where it has sometimes seemed doubtful that project as originally envisioned will ever actually be finished. In November, Neom's longtime CEO stepped away from the project without explanation. Like other things associated with Saudi Arabia, Neom would also appear to be a bit of a human rights nightmare. A report from the British public broadcaster ITV recently claimed that some 21,000 migrant construction workers had died in Saudi Arabia since 2017, when the nation's Saudi Vision 2030 effort (of which Neom is a huge part) began. Human Rights Watch has also reported that the Kingdom's empire-building projects are built on "widespread labor abuses." The Saudis have called reports of the vast death toll surrounding Neom "misinformation."

Neom and DataVolt Partner to Build USD 5 Billion AI Data Center in Oxagon

NEOM's Oxagon offers subsea fiber connectivity, green hydrogen, and cost-competitive renewable energy, making it an optimal location. Saudi Arabia's Neom and DataVolt have signed an agreement to develop a 1.5-gigawatt (GW) net-zero artificial intelligence (AI) factory in its Oxagon zone. The development will take a phased approach, with phase one funded by an initial investment of USD 5 billion expected to be operational by 2028, Neom and DataVolt announced on Tuesday, February 11, 2025. Also Read: Fluidstack to Build AI Supercomputer in France with EUR 10 Billion Investment Aligning with Saudi Arabia's vision for a sustainable, data-driven economy, the factory will integrate a wide range of computing densities and energy-efficient architectures to address the global challenges posed by traditional data centers. Neom says that Oxagon is set to become an industrial city in northwest Saudi Arabia powered by renewable energy. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), data centers currently consume between 1 to 1.3 percent of global electricity demand. With the advancements of generative AI, power consumption is expected to grow exponentially over the next decade, the partners noted. Also Read: Equinix Opens Data Center in France with EUR 350 Million Investment Commenting on the announcement, Vishal Wanchoo, CEO of Oxagon, said: "At Oxagon, we are accelerating a renewable energy industrial ecosystem that is set to power businesses with green energy and technology solutions. The agreement with DataVolt highlights the potential impact of the sustainable infrastructure Oxagon offers its tenants and sets the foundations for the first green-AI workload to come on-stream in KSA along with the necessary computing power for regional and global impact." Rajit Nanda, CEO of DataVolt, added: "This agreement with Neom and Oxagon underscores our unwavering commitment to support the Kingdom's vision of becoming a regional digital and AI hub. The Kingdom's strategic location, coupled with its abundant green energy resources, aligns perfectly with DataVolt's mission in providing state-of-the-art sustainable data centers." Also Read: Mistral AI to Build First Data Centre in France: Report As part of the agreement, Oxagon will lease land to DataVolt for the development of the facility and provide the data center operator with infrastructure support. The goal is for the facility to be entirely powered by renewable energy, offering a fully integrated, end-to-end data center solution. According to the partners, the project will utilise advanced cooling technologies and is designed to operate at net zero, addressing the global challenges. Neom noted that Oxagon's location on the Red Sea coast, combined with access to sub-sea cables providing fiber connectivity, along with cost-competitive renewable energy, green hydrogen, and an industrial ecosystem, makes it the ideal location for DataVolt to develop a large-scale green AI factory.

LEAP 2025: AI data centre, key tech deals signed

Image credit: Supplied photo DataVolt and Saudi Arabian giga-project NEOM have announced a $5bn partnership to establish the first fully sustainble AI data centre in the country. The data centre will boast of a a capacity of 1.5 gigawatts in Oxagon - the floating industrial city being developed in the Red Sea. Read: LEAP 2025 starts in Riyadh, unveiling $14.9bn in AI investments Michael Champion, CEO of Tahaluf, the company which co-organises LEAP with the Saudi Ministry for Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) and the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming, and Drones (SAFCSP), emphasised on the fact, it is halfway though LEAP 2025, that the platform has already surpassed the confirmed investments of previous editions and have surpassed US$40 billion in total confirmed investments since we launched LEAP four years ago. Important: How LEAP 2025 is shaping Saudi Arabia's tech ambitions Other investment announcements Mobily Other than the data centre, Mobily, the Saudi Arabian telecommunications services company, announced an investment of $911m in strategic projects to develop digital infrastructure, including submarine cable projects and the development of data centres across the country. Zoom Zoom also announced a $75m investment to boost AI and innovation and also establish new data centres in order to create a support structure for tech companies as well as government entities. Saudi Arabia Railways and SKYFive The other Saudi entities such as Saudi Arabia Railways (SAR) and SKYFive announced the investments of $51m and $100m respectively. Saudi Arabia Railways intends to invest in private fibre-optic networks, while SKYFive, which is the leading telecommunications and internet services provider for aircraft intends to invest in non-terrestrial communications services focused on advocating the advanced air mobility sector. AI and data centres took the lead at LEAP 2025 this year, with other major investment collaborations between the local as well as the international businesses.