Equinix is set to invest more than $1 billion in a data center in Saudi Arabia.
The operator announced at the Leap summit in Riyadh this week that the facility would provide 100MW of capacity.
As reported by The National, Judith Gardiner, vice president for emerging markets at Equinix, said: “The data center will facilitate our hyperscale and retail customers, companies in Saudi Arabia and beyond, and also bring many of our customers to the Middle East.”
Other specifications of the facility have not yet been shared.
Also at the summit, the kingdom’s tech start-up sector received $494 million in funding for AI technologies, backed by investors including STV, Rua Ventures, Beco Capital, and Waed Capital.
Microsoft also announced plans to open a data center academy in Saudi Arabia, built in partnership with the Dammam-based National Information Technology Academy.
Similarly, Huawei is planning a Future Skill Centre in Saudi Arabia to train 25,000 people in AI, cloud, and big data over the next five years.
Saudi-based developer DataVolt is also planning a 1.5GW data center campus in the kingdom’s Neom City.
The total pledges in the last week to boost Saudi Arabia’s AI and data center capabilities have totaled some $21 billion.
Equinix already has a presence in the Middle East, with facilities in Oman, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi.
