May 13 (Reuters) - U.S. chip company Nvidia ( NVDA ) and

Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund-owned AI startup Humain

announced a partnership on Tuesday as part of the kingdom's

plans to develop artificial intelligence and strengthen cloud

computing infrastructure with the help of foreign investment.

The announcement coincides with U.S. President Donald Trump's

Gulf tour, where he signed a strategic economic agreement with

Saudi Arabia as the oil power rolled out the red carpet for him

at the start of a visit aimed at drumming up trillions of

dollars in investments.

Saudi Arabia, which is seeking to make its economy less

dependent on oil revenue, aims to position itself as a hub for

AI and a leading centre for AI activity outside the United

States.

"AI, like electricity and internet, is essential

infrastructure for every nation," said Jensen Huang, founder and

CEO of Nvidia ( NVDA ).

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday launched

Humain, a company to develop and manage AI technologies in Saudi

Arabia.

The two companies said they will leverage Nvidia's ( NVDA ) platforms

to establish Saudi Arabia as a global leader in AI, GPU cloud

computing and digital transformation.

In a joint statement, the parties said they will build AI

factories with up to 500 megawatts of capacity that will include

"several hundred thousand" of Nvidia's ( NVDA ) most advanced GPUs over

five years.

Chaired by bin Salman, Saudi Arabia's de facto leader,

Humain will operate under the Public Investment Fund, and offer

AI services and products, including data centres, AI

infrastructure, cloud capabilities and advanced AI models.

"In building an AI company, you need the foundation and the

infrastructure," Humain CEO Tareq Amin said on stage from Riyadh

on Tuesday. "It's a really, really big initiative for the

kingdom."