Saudi AI Institutions

SDAIA, the Saudi Authority for Data and Artificial Intelligence, was established by Royal Order No. (A/471), 29/12/1440 AH, and is headquartered in Riyadh. SDAIA's own about page gives only the Hijri date; the Gregorian equivalent of 30 August 2019 comes from secondary reference sources, so we present it that way.

Its mandate instrument is Council of Ministers' Resolution No. (292) dated 27/04/1441 AH. Article 10(1), quoted in SDAIA's own AI Ethics Principles document, gives it the task of developing:

SDAIA describes four strategic pillars: policy and regulation; infrastructure and the government cloud; national platforms, the national data bank and digital identity; and AI research and development together with “global leadership in Arabic language tech”. Its Board is chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and its President is Prof. Abdullah bin Sharaf Alghamdi, at minister rank, confirmed in post in January 2026.

SDAIA has three affiliated executive entities. They are commonly confused with each other, and with SDAIA itself.

NCAI — National Center for Artificial Intelligence

Established by the same instrument as SDAIA — Royal Decree No. (A/471), 29/12/1440 AH — and linked to it. NCAI built ALLaM: the model was “developed in the laboratories of the National Center for AI … by national technical cadres”.

NDMO — National Data Management Office

Established in 2019 and affiliated with SDAIA; described as the national regulatory and reference body for data management and governance. It drafts policies and submits them to SDAIA's Board, and has released seven national data governance policies, among them Data Classification, Personal Data Protection, Information Sharing, Freedom of Information, Children's Personal Data Protection, and rules for transferring personal data abroad.

NIC — National Information Center

Established in 1979 and moved from the Ministry of Interior to SDAIA on 31 August 2019. Described as the operational arm of SDAIA, it runs a national government cloud platform, the National Data Bank and Deem Cloud.

HUMAIN was launched on 12 May 2025 in Jeddah by the Crown Prince. It is PIF-owned, headquartered in Riyadh, and expanding into the USA and Europe. The Saudi Press Agency describes its scope as operating “across the artificial intelligence value chain as a unified operating company” — data centers, AI infrastructure and cloud, and advanced models. Its CEO is Tareq Amin.

Its major partnerships, each confirmed at the counterparty's own release rather than in press reporting:

NVIDIA — 13 May 2025

AI factories: several hundred thousand GPUs over five years, up to 500 MW; phase one covers 18,000 GB300 Grace Blackwell units.

AMD — 13 May 2025

Up to $10 billion and 500 MW over five years, built on Instinct accelerators and ROCm.

AWS — May 2025, expanded 19 November 2025

Originally more than $5 billion; expanded into a Riyadh “AI Zone” with up to 150,000 AI accelerators, and a commitment to train 100,000 Saudis including 10,000 women.

Qualcomm — 27 October 2025

200 MW from 2026, using AI200 and AI250 inference racks.

Aramco — 28 October 2025

A non-binding term sheet for a “significant minority stake”, with PIF retaining the majority. The size is undisclosed and no completion has been announced.

As reported by Fortune on 9 September 2026, HUMAIN is seeking a $2.5 billion data-centre fund, planning a $10 billion global AI venture fund, and targeting an IPO in Riyadh and New York by 2029, with capacity of 1.9 GW by 2030 and more than 6 GW by 2034.

NTDP — National Technology Development Program

Run by MCIT, which lists it among its programs; its former domain now redirects to the ministry's. Its current product families are Innovation (AIM, MVPLAB, Nextera, Transform+), Financing (Fuel, Lendtech, Loan Guarantee), Talent (Boost, Lead It, Source Tech, Tech Crew, Tamkeen), Growth (Bridge, Empowering Accelerators, Saudi Unicorns) and Market access (Connect). Older published lists are out of date — check the live portal.

Monsha'at — the SME General Authority

Established in 2016 and linked to the Minister of Commerce, who chairs its board. Its Governor is Sami bin Ibrahim Al-Husseini, appointed in August 2022. Its programmes include sector accelerators (transport and storage, digital trade, EdTech, Fintech, entertainment), Monsha'at Academy, Business Atlas, the Kafalah loan guarantee programme, and a Venture Capital Initiative.

KACST's predecessor, the National Center for Science and Technology, was ordered on 29 November 1977. It was renamed King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology by royal decree on 31 December 1985, with independent legal personality. Based in Riyadh, it is responsible for applied scientific research and runs technology transfer and incubation.

The Garage opened its headquarters on 18 September 2023 — 28,000 m² on KACST's main campus. Its own site, read on 10 September 2026, reports 950+ startups graduated, 7,500+ direct and indirect jobs, and SAR 3.7bn+ in startup valuation over two years. It offers an Accelerator for revenue-generating companies, an Incubator taking ideas to MVP, and hosted programmes linked to NTDP's MVPLab and Boost. Facilities and workspace are free of charge and open to all nationalities; the 11th accelerator cohort opened on 29 June 2026.

RDIA, the Research, Development and Innovation Authority, was created in 2021 and took over national research grant-making, with KACST refocusing on national laboratories, technology transfer and advisory work. This account comes from an interview with KACST's president; we located no royal order text for it, so treat the detail as indicative rather than settled.

CST, the Communications, Space and Technology Commission, reached its present form through a chain of instruments: the Saudi Communications Commission (Council of Ministers Decision 74, 5/3/1422H) became CITC (Decision 133, 21/5/1424H), postal services were added (Resolution 403, 12/14/1440H) and later moved out (Decree 705, 1443H), and CST was constituted by Cabinet Decree No. 235 dated 07/04/1444H, corresponding to 10 November 2022. Its Governor is Haitham Alohali.

The NCA, the National Cybersecurity Authority, was established in 2017 by a Royal Order linking it directly to the King. The instrument chain is Royal Order (55775) of 23/8/2017 establishing it, the Statute by Royal Order (6801) of 31/10/2017, an amending Royal Order (7053) of 09/09/2021, and its legal powers by Royal Decree (M/117) of 22/12/2024. It runs Saudi CERT, the National Cybersecurity Academy, the Haseen platform, national cyber drills, and the Saudi Cybersecurity Workforce Framework (SCyWF).