사우디아라비아의 휴메인은 정부의 직접 재정 지원 축소에 따라 운영을 유지하기 위해 외부 투자를 모색하고 있다.

Saudi AI company Humain has begun preparations for an initial public offering after CEO Tareq Amin announced he is assembling a team of experts to lay the groundwork for the listing. While no specific timeline was provided, Amin stated at the Future Investment Initiative conference last October that his goal is to list Humain on exchanges in both Saudi Arabia and New York by 2029.

Since its launch last year, Humain has secured partnerships with xAI, Nvidia, Amazon Web Services, Adobe, and Cisco, among others. These developments have been financed by Saudi Arabia’s $900 billion Public Investment Fund (PIF), which established Humain in May 2025 as the primary vehicle for advancing the kingdom’s artificial intelligence ambitions. The push toward an IPO signals a strategic pivot for a company whose expansion has thus far relied heavily on state capital.

“This is a funding-discipline decision as much as a monetization one, at a point when PIF has been explicit that portfolio companies must reduce their draw on the sovereign,” Kurt Davis Jr., head of debt and capital advisory for the Middle East and Africa at professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal, told Fortune. “A listing gives permanent capital, audited disclosure, and a public credit story that lowers the cost of the debt behind the build-out. The difficulty is sequencing: a 2029 listing puts the company in front of public investors mid-construction, with most of its capex still ahead of it.”

The move mirrors broader regional trends. Last week, Bloomberg reported that G42, backed by the UAE sovereign wealth fund Mubadala, is also exploring outside capital. Executives have held preliminary discussions with U.S. firms regarding a potential majority stake sale, with industry observers noting the company’s efforts to secure long-term access to advanced semiconductors. The UAE was recently granted an A:5 export control designation by the United States, permitting G42 to purchase advanced chips without a license through 2027, provided its corporate structure remains unchanged.

“Beyond the question of capital, the story could be read through the lens of export controls,” said Mohammed Soliman, director of AI and compute infrastructure at McLarty Associates. “Both G42 and Humain want to stay within the American AI ecosystem. Outside capital and a possible American majority are how they keep this valuable access. Humain is doing the same thing. Saudi Arabia does not have that A:5 designation yet, and so bringing in outside investors is how the Humain team gets ready for a G42-style arrangement with Washington and how they also finance the build-out itself.”