Saudi Arabia races to build 1.5GW of data centers by 2030, opening opportunities for Taiwan’s AI supply chain

Saudi Arabia is moving aggressively to build an AI infrastructure hub, with plans to expand total data-center capacity to 1.5GW by 2030 and to 6.6GW over the following decade. The push is tied to the kingdom’s ambition to become a center for global AI infrastructure and sovereign AI.

The country has made AI a central part of its national development strategy. It is developing Arabic large language models, building a domestic AI industry and expanding the infrastructure needed to provide computing power. Saudi Arabia has also designated 2026 as its Year of Artificial Intelligence.

To accelerate that buildout, Saudi Arabia is working with major international technology companies, including NVIDIA on AI Factory computing centers, and with AMD and Cisco on AI infrastructure. As large data centers and AI computing facilities expand, demand is rising for the hardware and supporting systems they require.

HUMAIN has publicly expressed interest in creating local manufacturing capabilities for server racks, power management and cooling systems. Huang Chih-fang, chairman of Taiwan’s External Trade Development Council, said those areas match Taiwan’s internationally competitive strengths. He led a COMPUTEX and market-promotion delegation to Riyadh on Aug. 30, meeting Saudi sovereign-fund representatives, an advanced-manufacturing platform, the national AI company and major business groups. The delegation also met organizers of the LEAP technology exhibition and opened a Taiwan Excellence showcase.

Huang said Taiwan’s semiconductor and AI ecosystem could complement Saudi demand in servers, racks, power management, cooling and semiconductors. The trade council plans to invite Saudi companies and institutions to Taiwan for tailored visits and business matching, and has invited Saudi representatives to attend COMPUTEX 2027 from June 1 to 4. Cooperation could also extend beyond AI infrastructure to electric vehicles, drones, automation and robotics.