Kingdom ranks among top 10 countries for private AI investment, attracts specialized talent and advances integrated government data infrastructure

RIYADH, Wednesday, August 12, 2026 (WNP): Saudi Arabia is strengthening its position in the global artificial intelligence landscape, with the World Bank Group’s World Development Report 2026, titled The Promise of Artificial Intelligence, placing the Kingdom among the world’s top 10 countries for private AI investment and highlighting its growing appeal as a destination for AI talent and its experience in government data integration.

The recognition reflects the support and empowerment of Saudi Arabia’s leadership through an integrated national approach under Saudi Vision 2030, aimed at building an economy driven by data, computing power and innovation, while reinforcing the Kingdom’s role in shaping the future of artificial intelligence.

The newly released report represents the World Bank’s first comprehensive assessment of AI’s impact on developing economies, examining the opportunities it creates for individuals, businesses and governments, as well as the requirements for maximizing its development benefits while managing associated risks.

The report examines AI’s development impact through three key dimensions: Capabilities, Concentration and Complements. Capabilities refer to AI’s ability to expand access to expertise and support decision-making; Concentration addresses the concentration of advanced models, chips and data centers in a limited number of countries and companies; while Complements encompass infrastructure, data, skills and institutions needed to derive value from AI.

The report outlines a progressive pathway for countries, beginning with the adoption of available AI tools, moving toward adapting them to local languages, data, institutions and needs, and ultimately advancing toward the development of cutting-edge technologies and the infrastructure required to support them.

It emphasizes that realizing the full benefits of AI depends not simply on having the largest models, but on developing an interconnected ecosystem encompassing connectivity, computing capacity, data, skills and institutions. Solutions tailored to local contexts, it notes, can expand access to expertise, enhance productivity, improve public services and support economic growth.

Under the Concentration dimension, the report highlights Saudi Arabia’s use of tax incentives and special economic zones to attract investment in data centers and expand computing capacity. The approach links investment attraction with the development of a wider ecosystem encompassing talent, startups, energy and infrastructure needed for AI applications.

The report’s assessment comes amid rapid expansion of Saudi Arabia’s digital infrastructure. Data center capacity increased from 68 megawatts in 2021 to 440 megawatts in 2025, before reaching 467 megawatts in the first quarter of 2026. This represented an increase of more than 6% since the beginning of the year and nearly seven times the capacity recorded in 2021.

Meanwhile, 4G and 5G network coverage reached 99% by the end of 2025, while average internet speed reached 216 Mbps, providing key infrastructure for the expansion of cloud services and AI applications.

Under the Capabilities dimension, the report highlights Saudi Arabia’s ability to attract specialized talent. In 2025, the Kingdom was among the economies recording the highest net inflows of AI professionals per 10,000 LinkedIn members, alongside Luxembourg, Australia and Switzerland.

Saudi Arabia also recorded a net inflow of 3.08 among leading AI authors and innovators in 2025, reflecting the growing attractiveness of its technology ecosystem to highly specialized professionals.

The expansion of international talent is accompanied by strong growth in the Kingdom’s domestic technology workforce, which has reached approximately 426,000, representing cumulative growth of 186.6% compared with 2018, when the workforce stood at 150,000.

Women’s participation in communications and information technology professions has also increased to 35%, further broadening the Kingdom’s technology talent base and strengthening the diversity of capabilities supporting its innovation-driven economy.

Under the Complements dimension, the report highlights Saudi Arabia’s experience in developing public data infrastructure. It cites a platform operated by the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) that enables data integration across more than 60 government entities, while allowing data to remain within the respective systems of those entities.

The World Bank presents the experience as a model for structured data exchange, enabling government institutions to develop more effective applications while strengthening governance, trust and data protection.

The progress in AI and digital infrastructure builds on broader growth in Saudi Arabia’s digital economy, whose contribution has risen to 16% of GDP, while the communications and information technology market reached SAR199 billion in 2025.

Saudi Arabia also ranked second globally in the World Bank Group’s 2025 GovTech Maturity Index, underscoring its progress in digital government services and technology-enabled public-sector transformation.

The preparation of the World Development Report also reflects Saudi Arabia’s participation in the international dialogue on AI policy. The report’s High-Level Advisory Panel included Minister of Communications and Information Technology Abdullah Alswaha.

The report team also benefited from consultation sessions involving the Saudi Competitiveness and Business Center and the WBG-Saudi Arabia Knowledge Hub, as well as national government, private-sector and research institutions contributing expertise in data, telecommunications, computing and innovation.

The report’s release carries particular significance following the Saudi Cabinet’s approval, during a session chaired by Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on March 10, 2026, to designate 2026 as the “Year of AI” in Saudi Arabia.

The designation underscores the Kingdom’s national focus on future technologies and their role in advancing development, innovation and competitiveness.

The findings highlighted by the World Bank affirm Saudi Arabia’s integrated approach to the intelligent era, bringing together investment in infrastructure, computing and data, talent development, regulatory frameworks and the expanded application of technology across the economy and public services.

The approach further reinforces the Kingdom’s ambition to establish itself as a global hub for data and artificial intelligence while advancing the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030.