Saudi data embassies were put under the spotlight by the foreign press amid US concerns over its semiconductor tech reaching China after a flurry of AI agreements at the Saudi-US summit. Bloomberg highlighted that Saudi Arabia’s newly introduced Global AI Hub Law could enable US control over its computing power in “data embassies” to prevent China from acquiring advanced military AI via Saudi tech entities like Humain.

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The regs are already in the works: Last month, the Communication, Space and Technology Commission published a draft of its Global AI Hub Law, which aims to create an attractive environment for foreign governments to establish sovereign data centers within the Kingdom. The draft law includes three different models for the data hub’s operation, oversight, jurisdiction, and provisions such as a 120-day period for guest countries to retrieve their data if their agreement with the Kingdom terminates.

SOUND SMART- A data embassy is a data center located in one country yet is legally under the jurisdiction of another, which requires specific bilateral agreements, as it’s uncertain if the 1961 Vienna Convention protecting traditional diplomatic missions would apply to data centers.

IN CONTEXT- Nvidia’s partnership with PIF-backed Humain to construct a 500 MW AI facility on Saudi soil marked a shift in US policy under the Trump administration — reversing Biden-era AI chip restrictions — to grant the Kingdom greater access, partly to counter China’s growing chip influence. The access is conditioned on Saudi Arabia avoiding Chinese AI technology, such as Huawei chips, which the US deems a violation of export controls, though enforcement of this condition remains uncertain.

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