In a major development for Saudi Arabia’s AI infrastructure, the Public Investment Fund-owned company HUMAIN has initiated the deployment of 1,024 Qualcomm Cloud AI 100 accelerators. This move marks the first phase of establishing a new AI data center designed for large-scale inferencing and hybrid edge-to-cloud computing.
The new facility, which will be one of the largest Qualcomm implementations globally, targets a capacity of 200 megawatts by 2026. US software giant Adobe has been named as the data center’s first customer, signaling strong international interest in the Kingdom’s growing AI capabilities.
Powering a Hybrid Edge-to-Cloud AI System
The collaboration between HUMAIN and Qualcomm aims to create the world’s first fully optimised edge-to-cloud hybrid AI system. This architecture directly addresses the limitations of traditional AI deployments. While cloud-only solutions often suffer from latency constraints unsuitable for real-time applications, edge-only systems lack the raw computational power needed for complex AI workloads.
By combining on-device processing with powerful cloud infrastructure, this hybrid model optimizes performance, efficiency, and response times. The Qualcomm rack solutions are engineered to deliver high-performance AI inference services with superior memory capacity, making them ideal for running demanding generative AI and large language models (LLMs).
Integrating Saudi-Developed AI Models
A key aspect of the partnership involves integrating HUMAIN’s proprietary, Saudi-developed AI models with Qualcomm’s advanced platforms. This includes ALLaM, HUMAIN’s multimodal large language model, which will be leveraged to deliver customized AI solutions for enterprise and government clients across the Kingdom and the wider region.
The Qualcomm Cloud AI 100 Ultra, a cornerstone of the deployment, is specifically designed for generative AI, featuring up to 576 MB of on-die SRAM and 64 AI cores per card to efficiently manage complex workloads.
Building on an End-to-End AI Strategy
This data center initiative is a logical extension of HUMAIN’s broader strategy, which spans from edge devices to the cloud. The company previously unveiled its Horizon Pro AI laptop, which runs the ALLaM model natively on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Elite chipsets for local processing.
By controlling both the AI-powered personal computers and the cloud back-end, HUMAIN is creating a vertically integrated ecosystem. This approach ensures seamless performance and positions the company to deliver powerful, end-to-end AI experiences for its users and clients.
About HUMAIN
HUMAIN is a Saudi Arabian company wholly owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and focused on building the next generation of AI. The company is developing a full-stack AI ecosystem, from large language models and data centers to AI-powered edge devices, with the mission of democratizing AI and advancing Saudi Arabia’s position as a global leader in technology.
Source: Middle East AI News
