U.S. AI Startup Together AI Moves to Saudi Arabia Amid Data Center Backlash, Secures $5B Deal

Together AI Secures Major Saudi Partnership Amid U.S. Data Center Opposition

Together AI, a U.S. AI startup valued at $8.3 billion in July, announced a partnership with Humain, the Saudi Arabian AI company founded by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman1

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. The deal grants Together AI access to 250 megawatts of electricity and 120,000 semiconductors from an AI data center in Saudi Arabia, with the company offering a share of its revenue in exchange1

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. Together AI expects business from the data center to generate $5 billion annually1

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The partnership represents a strategic shift for the U.S. AI startup as it seeks to expand its AI compute capacity beyond American borders. Vipul Prakash, co-founder and CEO of Together AI, explained the rationale: "More and more, local communities don't want data centers in their backyards, and there are a lot of cancellations and moratoriums, so U.S. capacity is becoming even more constrained"1

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Growing Data Center Backlash Drives Companies Abroad

The move to Saudi Arabia reflects mounting opposition to AI data center infrastructure within the United States. According to a Gallup poll conducted in March, 48% of Americans strongly oppose new data centers being built in their area, compared to just 7% who strongly favor construction2

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. This data center backlash has created significant challenges for AI companies seeking to expand their operations domestically.

The power-guzzling facilities have become a political flashpoint in recent months, with communities expressing concerns about energy consumption and environmental impact2

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. The EPA is attempting to scrap a decades-old public disclosure requirement that would make it easier for developers to build new data centers without alerting communities2

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. This regulatory environment has made international partnerships increasingly attractive for U.S. companies.

Saudi Arabia Emerges as Global AI Hub

Saudi Arabia is positioning itself as a global AI hub through aggressive infrastructure investments and strategic partnerships with American tech companies. Humain, launched last year as part of the Kingdom's effort to diversify its economy away from oil, has announced AI data center partnerships with Amazon Web Services, Luma AI, and xAI, now part of SpaceX1

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. The company has also secured deals to purchase semiconductors from Nvidia, AMD, and Qualcomm after the United States cleared the export of an initial batch of 35,000 U.S. semiconductors1

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Tareq Amin, CEO of Humain, emphasized the high demand: "Everybody is chasing capacity. My G.P.U.s sell before they are ordered"1

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. Humain has broken ground on two construction sites, one in Riyadh and another in Dammam, with plans to deploy 250 megawatts of power by the start of 2027 and reach 6 gigawatts by 20341

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. The total project carries an estimated cost of $77 billion1

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Open-Source AI Models Drive Capacity Demands

Together AI specializes in serving open-source AI models to customers, a market segment experiencing rapid growth as these models have become nearly as powerful as proprietary closed models from major AI labs1

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. The surge in demand for open-source AI models has left the company seeking additional computing power wherever available. The Humain partnership will roughly triple Together AI's current data center capacity and represents one of the largest publicly disclosed data centers built specifically to host open-source AI models, according to Prakash1

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Humain expects to deliver the first 7,000 chips to Together AI by November, with full allocation reaching 120,000 semiconductors sometime in 20271

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. Prakash indicated the company will continue pursuing international opportunities: "I suspect that in 2027 there's probably more international capacity that gets built than in the U.S."1

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Geopolitical Context and Regional Tensions

The expansion comes despite regional tensions, including the war in Iran, which has resulted in attacks on Amazon Web Services data centers in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates1

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. Amin dismissed concerns about the impact, stating, "We have recovered any lost time" from the war1

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The Brookings Institute warned in a recent report that constructing new data centers in Saudi Arabia during escalating conflict carries serious risks that could undermine U.S. technological dominance. "The consequences could extend beyond commercial losses and may result in degrading U.S. technological advantage, accelerating rivals' capabilities -- especially China -- and potentially undermining the integrity of AI systems on which critical functions depend," the report stated2

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. The Trump administration previously signed a $600 billion agreement with Saudi Arabia in May 2025, which included $20 billion for new data centers within the U.S. in exchange for defense equipment2

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