AWS to Open Data Centers in Saudi, Allocates $5.3 Billion

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Amazon's cloud division, Amazon Web Services, announced on Monday that it will open data centres in Saudi Arabia in 2026, investing more than $5.3 billion in the kingdom. The cloud region will allow customers to securely store content and run workloads while providing faster speeds to its users.

Amazon and its cloud competitors, Google-parent Alphabet and Microsoft, have announced plans to increase their investments, primarily in data centres, to support the growing adoption of AI technologies. It stated that customers in the region who use AWS to run workloads include Saudi Telecom Company SJSC, Seera Holding, and Mobily, among others.

Apple and Amazon, led by its AWS unit, were in discussions with Riyadh on investing in Saudi Arabia, Reuters reported in 2017. Last month, the head of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) sovereign wealth fund pitched the kingdom as a prospective hub for AI activity outside the United States, citing its energy resources and funding capacity.

Amazon Web Services is an Amazon subsidiary that offers on-demand cloud computing platforms and APIs to individuals, businesses, and governments on a metered, pay-as-you-go model. Clients often use this in conjunction with autoscaling. Customers access AWS services through a global network of AWS server farms. Fees are determined by a combination of usage (known as a "Pay-as-you-go" model), hardware, operating system, software, or networking features selected by the subscriber that require availability, redundancy, security, and service options.