LEAP 2026 Ends With Over $15bn in AI Deals

The fifth edition of the LEAP technology conference concluded in Riyadh with more than $15 billion in technology launches, investments, and partnerships focused on artificial intelligence, cloud computing, data centers, semiconductors, and advanced computing. The event was held at the Riyadh Exhibition and Convention Center in Malham from 31 August to 3 September 2026.

Among the largest announcements, AMD, Cisco, and PIF-owned HUMAIN activated the first AMD Instinct GPU systems in Saudi Arabia, with plans to scale to 250 MW of AI infrastructure by 2027 and 1 GW by 2030. HUMAIN and DataVolt also broke ground on a 100 MW segment of a planned 360 MW AI-ready data center at Oxagon in NEOM, targeting the first phase for 2028 and a long-term capacity of 1.5 GW.

AWS confirmed its first Saudi cloud region will open in December 2026, backed by a planned $5.3 billion investment and up to 50 MW of capacity in the Kingdom's first AI Zone by 2028, in an expanded partnership with HUMAIN. Together AI and HUMAIN separately agreed to develop a 250 MW AI data center projected to generate over $5 billion in gross annualized revenue in its first year.

Day two added around $2.5 billion in further deals, including $1.2 billion from Al Moammar Information Systems to expand its data centers to 192 MW, $880 million from NHC Innovation for facilities in Khuzam Digital Valley, a $300 million investment in WIOCC led by Vision Invest and Africa Finance Corporation, and over $150 million from Mobily and BytePlus to roll out cloud services locally. Nokia opened its first R&D center in the Kingdom, while HPE expanded its "Saudi Made" program and launched a Saudi Innovation Center with Intel.

For residents and businesses, the wave of investment signals faster local cloud access, more data centers, and expanding job and startup opportunities in the technology sector. The conference hosted more than 1,000 speakers, some 1,900 global technology brands, and around 1,900 investors managing over $22 trillion in assets.

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