One Giant LEAP Into the Known

Speaking to an invitation-only crowd of global investors, founders, and assorted hangers-on on the eve of LEAP — the Gulf’s (if not the world’s) largest tech conference — HUMAIN CEO Tareq Amin had a message for attendees hailing from the anglosphere. “For our guests from America, Canada, and Australia, how long do you think it took us to get the permitting” for the Saudi AI champion’s data centers currently under construction in Riyadh and Dammam? According to The New York Times, “the company expects to deploy a total of 250 megawatts of power to its data centers by the start of 2027 and has a goal of supplying six gigawatts of power by 2034. The total project is estimated to cost \$77 billion.”

The answer, Amin triumphantly announced, was “One week.” In the U.S., the average time elapsed for large infrastructure projects is 4.5 years. That, in a nutshell, is the Play scenario in action, as intractable delays, geopolitical barriers, and too much money chasing too little infrastructure lead AECO firms to follow said money and build where they can — especially as America’s data center backlash continues to build. *GL-9/4/26