Saudi Arabia's Year of AI: $9.1B Invested as Hexagon Data Center Goes Live
Saudi Arabia has designated 2026 as the Year of AI under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's patronage, backed by concrete infrastructure and measurable outcomes.
Saudi AI companies secured $9.1 billion through 70 investment deals in 2025. The sector has 664 companies. SDAIA's SAMAI initiative trained over one million citizens in AI within a year. Government tech spending grew 56 percent in 2024.
Hexagon, the world's largest government data center at 480MW, went live in early 2026 matching Meta's largest US campus. Data center capacity grew 42.4 percent between 2023-2024 with nine cloud regions operational or under construction.
NEOM pivots from residential towers to digital infrastructure. A $5 billion DataVolt deal for Oxagon data centers leverages Red Sea cooling and desert solar power. Microsoft's Saudi Arabia East Azure region launches Q4 2026 with three availability zones.
SDAIA integrated 430+ government systems into the National Data Lake. Saudi Arabia became the first Arab nation to join the Global Partnership on AI. The Global AI Summit returns in September 2026. Gartner projects MENA tech spending at $169 billion in 2026.
Saudi Arabia is building sovereign compute capacity at unprecedented scale, positioning itself as the regional AI hub. The NEOM pivot from residential to digital infrastructure is pragmatic and potentially more impactful.
What is the Hexagon data center?
The world's largest government-operated data center at 480MW in Riyadh, inaugurated in early 2026.
How is NEOM pivoting to AI?
Areas planned for The Line's towers are being repurposed for data centers. A $5B DataVolt deal leverages Red Sea cooling and solar power.