Following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) during LEAP, Aramco Digital, the digital and technology subsidiary of Aramco, and Groq, a leader in AI inference and creator of the Language Processing Unit (LPU), announced their partnership to establish the world’s largest inferencing data center in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This strategic collaboration marks a significant step forward in advancing the Kingdom’s digital transformation initiatives and solidifying its position as a global leader in AI and cloud computing.
The inferencing data center will play a pivotal role in Aramco Digital’s vision to leverage advanced technologies that drive operational excellence and support the Kingdom’s program, Vision 2030. By combining cutting-edge AI and ML infrastructure from Groq with Aramco Digital’s strategic goals, this partnership aims to revolutionize data processing and analytics across various sectors. The facility will process billions of tokens per day by the end of 2024 and be able to onboard hundreds of thousands of developers in the region and then hundreds of billions of tokens per day with millions of developers by 2025, setting a new industry standard and bringing advanced technology from Groq to the Kingdom.
Tareq Amin, CEO of Aramco Digital, stated, “With the support of the Kingdom’s leadership, we are proud to partner with Groq to develop a world-leading inferencing data center in Saudi Arabia. This initiative not only aims to create the largest facility of its kind but also ensures seamless access to advanced AI computing power for everyone, offered through our digital marketplace, nawat, in a flexible ‘as-a-Service’ model. Our collaboration with Groq aligns directly with Vision 2030, promoting the localization of advanced technologies, driving innovation, enhancing sustainability, and reinforcing digital excellence within the Kingdom.”
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This ground-breaking inferencing data center will use Groq® LPU™ AI inference technology, advanced AI processors designed specifically for massive-scale inference workloads that deliver speed and efficiency. In the past six months alone, nearly half a million AI developers have adopted Groq inference cloud solutions. This partnership in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is instrumental in setting the new compute standard for AI inference data centers around the world, and marks progress towards the Groq mission to develop AI inference compute centers around the globe
“The Groq partnership with Aramco Digital demonstrates our shared dedication to pushing the boundaries of AI. Integrating with Aramco Digital’s marketplace nawat will generate unparalleled processing power and scalability accessible to anyone, making it a key contributor to the global AI ecosystem,” said Jonathan Ross, CEO and Founder of Groq. “Securing our first and largest local presence within Saudi Arabia ensures Groq will remain at the center of the leading AI hub in the region. Saudi Arabia’s visionary leadership and strategic location offer an ideal platform for Groq to achieve its goal of meeting half of the world’s AI inference needs.”
Daniel Newman, CEO of The Futurum Group and leading industry analyst, commented, “The speed at which AI is proliferating is unprecedented and requires the most capable technologies to deliver on the promise of AI. Our research has found that the growing demand for AI services will not only require an incredible amount of investment in AI infrastructure, but also an ecosystem of highly capable technology partners and implementers to realize its potential. The recent announcement of Aramco Digital partnering with Groq to deliver market-leading AI inference represents a key partnership in one of the most important and fastest growing regions for AI investment and consumption.”
This initiative is expected to attract global technology companies and startups to the Kingdom, fostering a dynamic ecosystem of innovation and collaboration. It will also create numerous high-tech job opportunities for Saudi talent, further enhancing the country’s capabilities in the digital domain.
Source: PRNewswire
