US-based Luma AI opened a Riyadh office, partnering with PIF-backed Humain to expand AI content services and support Saudi Arabia’s AI ambitions.
California-based artificial intelligence company Luma AI has opened an office in Riyadh, marking a formal expansion into Saudi Arabia as the Kingdom accelerates investment in AI infrastructure and digital transformation.
Also Read: Smart Bricks Raises $5M to Scale AI Real Estate Platform
Luma has established operations in Al Majdoul Tower alongside its local partner Humain, an AI company backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).
Speaking to AGBI, Jason Day, Luma’s head of Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said the company is actively hiring local talent and finalising agreements with Saudi customers. He expects the Riyadh office to reach a “good handful” of employees by the end of the month and move into double digits before the second half of the year.
Luma provides AI-generated content solutions for industries including media, advertising, gaming, finance and real estate. The company is already working with several Saudi clients, including entities linked to PIF.
“We’re very proud of the early adopters,” Day said. “We have a very positive pipeline.”
Luma is also collaborating with Humain on Project Halo, a planned 2GW AI data centre in Riyadh announced last year. While Day declined to comment on its progress, the project reflects Saudi Arabia’s broader ambition to position itself as a global hub for AI infrastructure.
The Kingdom has committed billions of dollars to building data centres and expanding computing capacity as part of its strategy to diversify the economy beyond oil.
“Saudi Arabia has all the components to lead in AI,” Day said. “It has the energy, the space, the appetite and the ambition.”
At a recent PIF event in Riyadh, Humain CEO Tareq Amin said the company aims to make Saudi Arabia the largest exporter of AI processing power, leveraging the Kingdom’s access to low-cost electricity to power advanced data centres.
Luma founder Amit Jain linked the expansion to Saudi Arabia’s long-term economic diversification strategy. “If petrodollars are invested into companies like Luma, they become tech builders — and that becomes the future,” he said.
Separately, Luma announced a partnership with Dubai-based Publicis Groupe Middle East to support AI-generated advertising content. Industry veteran Sir Martin Sorrell described AI-generated films as “the biggest thing” in advertising and said he remains bullish on the Middle East market.
Meanwhile, Humain this week launched Humain Sport following its acquisition of a controlling stake in UK-based AI sports company ai.io. The move is intended to accelerate international expansion and deliver AI-powered sports performance solutions.
Darren Peries, founder and CEO of ai.io, said the acquisition would enable the companies to provide tools that support athletes, coaches and organisations at all levels while contributing to the growth of sports technology both regionally and globally.
Why Luma AI Expansion Matters to MENA
Luma AI’s expansion into Riyadh signals more than just another foreign tech office opening in the Gulf — it reflects Saudi Arabia’s broader ambition to become a global AI infrastructure and content powerhouse.
By partnering with PIF-backed Humain and contributing to projects such as the planned 2GW Project Halo data centre, Luma is plugging into the Kingdom’s strategy to build both AI compute capacity and application-layer innovation. That combination — infrastructure plus real-world deployment — is what separates ecosystem builders from headline-driven initiatives.
For MENA, the move highlights two key shifts:
- The region is becoming a magnet for AI-native companies, not just a regional sales outpost
- AI is expanding beyond research and chatbots into media, advertising, gaming, finance, and sports technology.
As Gulf countries compete to attract global AI firms, Saudi Arabia’s edge lies in scale — energy capacity, sovereign capital, and long-term industrial strategy. Deals like this suggest the Kingdom is moving from ambition to execution.
