Saudi Arabia’s mission to be a global leader in artificial intelligence received a $5 billion boost this week with the announcement of a joint investment with Amazon Web Services (AWS).

AWS is partnering with HUMAIN, Saudi Arabia’s newly created company responsible for driving AI innovation across the Kingdom to build a groundbreaking “AI Zone” in the Kingdom.

The AI Zone will bring together multiple innovative capabilities, including dedicated AWS AI infrastructure and servers with world-class semiconductors, UltraCluster networks for faster AI training and inference, AWS services like SageMaker and Bedrock, and AI application services such as Amazon Q.

AWS previously announced and is currently building an AWS infrastructure region in Saudi Arabia that will become available in 2026. Amazon is investing US$5.3 billion in Saudi Arabia to develop this new region for AWS. 

The new AI Zone is an additional investment to grow global and local demand for advanced AI services in the Kingdom, and is part of AWS’s long-term commitment to bring its world-class infrastructure and services to Saudi Arabia.

Opportunities for Australia

On Tuesday at the Digital Health Festival in Melbourne, there was considerable interest in Saudi Arabia and the significant investment in innovation. Presenter Dr Louise Schaper told a packed audience that Saudi Arabia was undertaking one of the most ambitious healthcare transformations in the world.

“You’ve got this massive cultural impetus and huge government support for innovation and change. It is a whole society-wide vision for Saudi Arabia, but there is a specific focus on health sector transformation and creating not just a good healthcare system, but creating innovation opportunities. The government’s emphasis on digital health, AI and big data is integral to this transformation.”

Presenting with Welcome Health Ventures, which helps companies to expand their footprint in Saudi Arabia, Dr Schaper said there were significant opportunities for Australia. 

“It’s a high demand, big market. You’ve got extensive abilities to make a difference here and expand whatever you are interested in.”

“In Saudi, you actually have this centralised structure that makes it easier to do business with,” Dr Schaper said. “You’re really dealing with one provider, one payer, one regulator.”

She said for companies used to navigating multiple boards and jurisdictions, this unified system can dramatically reduce complexity and accelerate market entry, while navigation of public-private partnerships and adherence to local regulations is critical.

With complete control over standards, procurement, and implementation, the country is setting a new benchmark for interoperability and system-wide integration.

“They control what gets purchased, the procurement and what standards are in place to make sure that information can flow seamlessly throughout the system.”

She said the environment was ripe for Australian digital health firms that specialise in EHR, telemedicine, and AI-powered tools.