Saudi Arabia's The Line megacity pivots from housing 9 million people to AI data center hub

Ambitious 170 km long Saudimegacity 'The Line' has scope slashed and may be repurposed as AI data center hub -- futuristic desert city was set to house 9 million people, and showcased polarizing sci-fi design

A new unconfirmed report claims that Saudi Arabia is planning to drastically reduce the size and scale of its Neom Megaproject, dubbed 'The Line,' a futuristic vision of a linear city that would have held 9 million people if realised. According to FT, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is now planning something "far smaller," possibly an AI data center hub. The Line was previously touted as a "cognitive city" that would stretch 170 kilometers from the Red Sea across Saudi Arabia's desert landscape. Measuring 500 meters in height but just 200 meters in width, it would have purportedly featured no cars or roads and 100 percent renewable energy production. According to its own website, The Line could have housed 9 million people in a space just 34 square kilometers in size (13.1 square miles) while leaving 95% of its land preserved for nature. That vision now appears to have been flagged as overambitious. According to the report, the project is set to be "significantly downscaled and redesigned," prompted by a review of the development, which has faced delays and overspending. Perhaps more interestingly, FT reports the site "could now become a hub for data centres as part of Prince Mohammed's aggressive push for the kingdom to become a leading AI player," citing people briefed on the matter. The report cites that the Kingdom is wrestling with "tightening liquidity after a decade of massive spending," and "subdued" oil prices, as well as other hefty projects like the Expo trade fair and 2034 World Cup. In a statement given to FT, Neom didn't deny the report, rather stating that it was "always looking at how to phase and prioritise our initiatives so that they align with national objectives and create long-term value," adding it is "advancing projects in line with strategic priorities, market readiness and sustainable economic impact." According to a person cited in the report, The Line will be a "totally different concept" moving forward, with a focus on industry and as a hub for AI data centers. They say the coastal city will use seawater for cooling and be "a major center" for AI. Saudi Arabia is attempting to become a player in the ongoing AI buildout race. In May of 2025, it received 18,000 AI GPUs for its state-sponsored data centers from Nvidia. The nation has a significant problem to overcome, however, in its very hot and dry climate. In a recent report revealing that nearly 7,000 of the world's 8,808 operational data centers are built in the wrong climate, Saudi Arabia was one of only a handful of nations where nearly all of its data centers are built in zones considered too hot for efficient operation. Unfettered access to the Red Sea, where The Line ends, could be a novel solution to this issue. Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds.

Saudi Arabia's Futuristic Megacity Runs Into Dilemma: Why Build Housing When You Can Build a Data Center?

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had a vision for the perfect city: no streets, no cars, a completely sustainable environment that has everything a person could need. He's apparently willing to settle on just building some data centers. According to the Financial Times, the much-maligned plans for a megacity project known as Neom are set to be downsized from their original ambitions and may go from being a hub for humans to a hub for AI. Sounds about right. The Line, the most famous high-profile facet of Neom, was initially imagined as a fully contained city that would primarily exist in a linear design, stretching 110 miles long with walls that climbed up 1,600 feet, though the whole thing would be just 660 feet wide. It'd be able to house up to nine million people, and anyone would be able to cross from one end of the city to the other in just 20 minutes via subway. Shockingly, realizing that dream has proved difficult. While Saudi Arabia broke ground on the project in 2022, it has been plagued with delays, setbacks, and sizable budget overruns. It didn't take long for developers to start pushing back on some of the more outlandish ideas in the project, like an upside-down building that would hang from a bridge. Last year, the CEO overseeing Neom abruptly quit, and there were rumblings that the project would go from a full-fledged futuristic city to something more like a small proof of concept for what could be done down the road. Now it seems like even that level of ambition feels out of reach. Per the Financial Times, the latest on the project is that it'll be "far smaller" than initially planned, and may even cease to be a city at all. The report suggests that Neom could pivot to become a hub for data centers, in line with Prince Mohammed's design to make Saudi Arabia a major player in the AI space. The failure of The Line, predictable as it is, would be much funnier if not for the high human cost that has endured for the doomed project. To secure the land for the project, the Saudi government evicted people from their homes and even executed three people for refusing to vacate. Much of the construction has been done by migrant workers who have been exposed to slavery-like conditions, and reports from human rights groups indicate that dozens have died and many more have sustained serious injury while working on the project. All that to ultimately power some chatbots. Some lines don't need to be drawn.