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Blackstone, Saudi AI firm Humain team up for $3b data centers
Humain, a Saudi AI company owned by the Public Investment Fund, AirTrunk, a data center developer backed by Blackstone and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, and Blackstone have announced a partnership to build data centers in Saudi Arabia.
The first project will involve an investment of around US$3 billion for a data center campus.
The companies plan to collaborate on financing, developing, and operating digital infrastructure to support AI and cloud computing in the region.
The partnership marks AirTrunk’s entry into the Middle East and aims to advance Saudi Arabia’s digital ecosystem.
It also seeks to attract large-scale cloud and enterprise clients, develop local talent, and support the country’s technology goals.
AirTrunk, based in the Asia-Pacific region, specializes in hyperscale data centers.
🔗 Source: Humain
🧠 Food for thought
Implications, context, and why it matters.
Saudi data center push faces an energy gap in the Humain, AirTrunk, and Blackstone announcement
- $3B campus lacks power sourcing details in a high-load market 1. DataVolt plans a 1.5 GW AI campus in Oxagon (NEOM’s planned industrial hub) with net-zero goals and renewables focus 2.
- K.A.CARE 20-year PPAs via Sustainable Energy Procurement Company (a centralized buyer for renewables) 3 and 58.7 GW renewables target by 2030 4 shape policy. No clarity on PPAs vs grid leaves schedule and costs uncertain.
- Solar PPA at 1.04 cents/kWh for a 600 MW photovoltaic (PV) independent power producer (IPP) project lowers power cost 4. No sourcing hints at talks or grid dependence, which could clash with hyperscale operators’ (very large cloud data center operators) rules.
Renewable developers can win early deals as Saudi clarifies corporate PPA and self-consumption rules
- New self-consumption rules allow virtual net billing (power wheeling, using the grid to carry privately generated power to the customer) and third-party ownership to enable corporate PPAs 5. Developers can arrange supply for AirTrunk before constraints bite.
- Energy-as-a-Service providers (firms that finance, deploy, then operate onsite energy plus efficiency systems for a service fee) should pitch cooling now as LG Electronics signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in September 2025 for DataVolt in Oxagon 2. Early design input boosts win odds.
- Providers of Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs) and International Renewable Energy Certificates (I-RECs) can bridge early years if the campus starts on grid power. Know Saudi Arabia’s EAC rules and timing before entry.
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