A Saudi company will invest $5 billion to establish an artificial intelligence (AI) data center in NEOM, the kingdom’s futuristic megacity, according to state media reports.
The agreement, signed between DataVolt and NEOM, will fund the development of a fully sustainable AI data center with a 1.5-gigawatt capacity, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) announced.
The project will be built in Oxagon, NEOM’s planned industrial hub, which is envisioned as the world’s largest floating industrial complex.
NEOM, a landmark initiative unveiled by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, includes The Line, a revolutionary 170-kilometer (105-mile) mirrored city stretching across the desert from the Gulf of Aqaba.
When first introduced in 2022, The Line was projected to house over one million residents by 2030 and expand to nine million by 2045. However, developers have since revised the forecast to 300,000 residents by the end of the decade, according to Bloomberg.
In October 2024, Saudi Arabia inaugurated Sindalah, a luxury Red Sea resort, marking the first operational project within NEOM.
NEOM is a key component of Vision 2030, a transformative strategy aimed at diversifying the economy of the world’s largest oil exporter and preparing for a post-oil future.