US company Luma AI opens office in Riyadh

• Business partner with PIF-backed Humain
• Company recruiting local staff
• Saudi has ‘appetite and ambition’

Luma AI, a US artificial intelligence company based in California, has opened offices in Riyadh as part of its expansion in Saudi Arabia.

The company has set up in Al Majdoul Tower with its business partner Humain, an AI company backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).

Speaking to AGBI, Luma’s Europe, Middle East and Africa head Jason Day said the company is currently hiring local staff and firming up agreements with Saudi customers. He hopes the Saudi offices will have a “good handful” of employees by the end of the month and to “break into the double digits” before the second half of the year.

Luma is working with a range of companies in Saudi Arabia, some associated with PIF, to provide AI-generated content for media, advertising, video gaming and other industries.

Day said the company has Saudi customers spanning sectors such as finance, media and real estate.

“We’re very proud of the early adopters,” he said. “We have a very positive pipeline.”

Luma is also working with Humain on a 2GW AI data centre in Riyadh called Project Halo that was announced last year. Day declined to comment on the project’s progress.

The country is hoping to become a leader in AI and is investing billions in data centres and AI infrastructure. “Saudi Arabia has all the components to be able to do that,” said Day. “It has the energy, it has the space, it has the appetite and the ambition.”

Speaking at a PIF event in Riyadh, Humain’s CEO Tareq Amin said he wants Saudi Arabia to be the largest exporter of AI processing power, leveraging the kingdom’s access to cheap electricity to power AI data centres.

Development of AI infrastructure is part of Saudi Arabia’s wider ambition to diversify its economy away from oil. “If the petrodollars go towards investments like Luma, they become tech builders and that becomes the future,” said Amit Jain, the company’s founder.

Luma also announced Wednesday a partnership with Dubai-based advertising company Publicis Groupe Middle East to support AI-generated advertising.

Speaking to AGBI last year, advertising guru Sir Martin Sorrell called AI-generated films “the biggest thing” in advertising, saying that he was “bullish” on the Middle East as a market.

Further reading:

• AI spending increases inflation pressures, warns BlackRock
• Humain secures $1bn to expand AI infrastructure
• Austyn Alliuson: AI influencers are selling a perfect illusion

On Tuesday, Humain announced separately the launch of Humain Sport, following the strategic acquisition of a controlling stake in UK-based AI sports company ai.io.

In a press release, the company said it would give Humain the opportunity to accelerate its international expansion and support the delivery of new AI-powered sports products.

Speaking about the acquisition, ai.io’s founder and CEO Darren Peries said it would allow both companies to sell products that “support athletes, coaches, and organisations at every level of sport, while contributing to the growth of sports technology in the region and around the globe.”