SambaNova to invest $140M in Saudi Arabia: CEO

Rodrigo Liang, CEO and Co-Founder of SambaNova Systems

Rodrigo Liang, CEO and Co-Founder of SambaNova Systems, said the company plans to invest up to $140 million (SAR 525 million) in Saudi Arabia, with the aim of developing the domestic technology sector, strengthening infrastructure, and employing competencies.

In addition, the company is working with the Saudi National Semiconductor Center to enhance design capabilities within the Kingdom, which aims to support GDP growth, he added.

In an interview with Argaam on the sidelines of the LEAP 2025 conference, Liang indicated that the company has a partnership with STC AI to launch the LLM 405 B model as a service, as well as cooperation with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology to share its expertise in the field of semiconductors.

“The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology continues to be a partner for SambaNova in exploring cooperation in telecommunications and AI connectivity on several levels. This cooperation was expanded to include more fields and capabilities, while promoting knowledge exchange between our institutions,” said the CEO.

He noted that the company is working on sharing knowledge and even semiconductor design, with the possibility of transferring design capabilities to the Kingdom and starting to share such knowledge and expertise with specialists within the Kingdom.

SambaNova is a computing platform specialized in artificial intelligence, providing its services through technology and computing infrastructure, as well as developing its own chips, according to the top executive.

Furthermore, the company is collaborating with the National Semiconductor Center to transfer some chip designs and design capabilities to the Kingdom, as part of its partnership to strengthen technical cooperation, he added.