Saudi Arabia is among the top ten countries globally for private investment in artificial intelligence, according to the World Bank Group’s World Development Report 2026.
SPA reported that the report, titled The Promise of AI, identifies the Kingdom as a major destination for AI talent and a representative model for government data integration.
The report analyzes AI’s impact on development through three areas: the capabilities provided by AI for decision support and expertise access; the concentration of data centers, chips, and advanced models in a few countries and firms; and supporting factors such as skills, data, infrastructure, and institutions.
The World Bank noted that Saudi Arabia has established a national development model by combining economic zones with tax incentives to attract data center investment and build computing capacity. This model integrates capital attraction with an AI ecosystem that includes infrastructure, energy, startups, talent, and AI application development.