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Saudi Aramco has acquired a 49% stake in HUMAIN in a transaction involving $2.6 billion in cash and the transfer of AI assets, bringing the oil producer into joint ownership of the company at the centre of Saudi Arabia’s artificial intelligence ambitions.
The Public Investment Fund will retain 51% of HUMAIN, which it launched in May 2025 to develop computing infrastructure, models and applications. Aramco’s cash contribution is scheduled for 2026 and will go into the business alongside computing and digital assets. The companies didn’t disclose an overall valuation or identify the assets being transferred.
The deal closes just over a year after Aramco agreed in principle to take a significant minority stake. It also extends a consolidation that has already brought Saudi Company for Artificial Intelligence, another PIF business, under HUMAIN.
For HUMAIN, Aramco brings both financing muscle and a large industrial business in which to deploy its tech. The oil producer said it expected to use HUMAIN’s infrastructure and services across its operations while commercialising its existing AI and digital assets. Neither company disclosed purchasing commitments or commercial terms.
HUMAIN is targeting three gigawatts of AI data-centre capacity by 2030, part of Saudi’s effort to build an export business in computing alongside domestic demand from government and industry.
HUMAIN’s venture fund has already made investments alongside its infrastructure expansion. Its $3 billion investment in xAI converted into SpaceX shares when Elon Musk’s space company acquired the AI group in February, ahead of its June listing at a $1.77 trillion valuation. Chief executive Tareq Amin later described the investment as a “home run.”
That combination of shareholder support, investment and customer demand will be central to HUMAIN’s eventual public-market pitch. FWDstart reported in September that Amin was recruiting staff with IPO experience, following earlier comments touting a potential Tadawul and Nasdaq listing around 2029.
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