Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI is currentlyOutgoingWe are actively negotiating with Saudi Arabian businesses and expect to obtain large amounts of stable computing power by leasing local data center resources to meet the huge computing power requirements of large-scale AI models.
This move shows that Elon Musk is not only developing AI in the United States, but is also turning his attention to the Middle East, attempting to combine cheap energy, abundant capital and friendly policies to build a global AI infrastructure landscape.
xAI is currently in preliminary talks with potential partners in Saudi Arabia, includingHumain, an AI startup backed by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund PIF, and another anonymous company that is already building a 200-megawatt data center.
Humain has proposed a long-term partnership with xAI, promising to provide several gigawatts of computing power. Although construction has yet to commence, the PIF's backing remains attractive. Another company is offering a short-term partnership involving a 200-megawatt facility currently under construction, allowing xAI to quickly access existing resources.
Both partnerships utilize a leasing model. xAI will lease computing space rather than directly own the facilities, further enhancing scalability and cost-efficiency. For xAI, currently experiencing rapid growth, this strategy reduces initial capital requirements and allows for rapid deployment of AI training infrastructure.
Faced with competitors like OpenAI and Meta actively building their own super data centers, xAI's decision to enter the Middle East market is motivated not only by securing more computing power but also by the hope of leveraging Saudi Arabia's advantages in electricity supply and nuclear energy development potential to meet the future AI's heavy energy dependence.
According to the Carbon Collective, a US-based carbon sustainability research organization, a 1-gigawatt AI data center consumes approximately the same amount of electricity annually as 90 households. Former US Department of Energy official Kathryn Huff stated, "As electricity demand surges, countries that can balance operational and electricity costs will become key players in the expansion of AI."
Despite its aggressive expansion into overseas markets, xAI has also maintained its presence in the United States. Its supercomputing facility in Memphis has already deployed a system called "Colossus." Elon Musk has even revealed plans to build a second data center in a nearby area, creating a multinational AI cloud computing network system.
