Blackstone, BlackRock Said to Explore AI Deals With Saudi Arabia

Private equity giants Blackstone Inc. and BlackRock Inc. are vying to invest billions of dollars with Saudi Arabia’s new artificial intelligence company, Humain, according to people familiar with the matter.

The firms have held preliminary talks with Humain about committing significant capital to data centers and related infrastructure, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.

No final decisions have been made on the structure or the eventual size of the partnership. Representatives for Humain, Blackstone and BlackRock declined to comment.

The kingdom has historically been a big backer of private equity ...