LEAP 2026 Draws Over $15bn in Tech Deals in Riyadh

Riyadh hosted the fifth edition of LEAP 2026 at the Riyadh Exhibition and Convention Center in Malham, where technology and digital transformation companies announced launches, investments and partnerships worth more than USD 15 billion. The deals focused on artificial intelligence, cloud computing, data centers and advanced technologies.

Amazon Web Services announced its first cloud infrastructure region in Saudi Arabia, set to launch in December 2026 with a planned investment exceeding USD 5.3 billion to support data sovereignty and hyperscale enterprise computing. Microsoft said its Microsoft Azure cloud region in the Kingdom will become available in November 2026, expanding local data hosting and cloud services.

Several major data center projects were also unveiled. Al Moammar Information Systems announced a USD 1.2 billion investment to expand its data centers, targeting 192 megawatts of capacity. NHC Innovation announced the Khuzam Digital Valley data center project, valued at SAR 3.3 billion, with capacity expandable to 65 megawatts by 2033, welcoming NAVER Innovation and BytePlus as anchor customers.

In artificial intelligence, Amazon Web Services and HUMAIN announced a joint investment of about USD 5 billion in the AWS HUMAIN AI Zone, and expanded cooperation to provide up to 50 megawatts of capacity within the Kingdom's first AI zone by 2028. xAI announced a Saudi-based data center starting with 50 megawatts and scalable to 500 megawatts, its first major expansion outside the United States. HUMAIN also partnered with Together AI to build a 250-megawatt data center, and with Applied Intuition to establish an autonomous trucking network with thousands of vehicles planned by 2030.

Investment funds featured too, as Ula Capital and FuturePlay launched a USD 100 million fund for technology startups and advanced tech manufacturing, while Alfanar announced a USD 150 million manufacturing investment. For residents and businesses across Riyadh, Jeddah and beyond, the announcements signal faster local access to cloud services, expanded digital infrastructure and new job opportunities in the growing technology sector.

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