The Exchanges

Q When they graduated, was it that they were thinking about staying in the U.S., getting an OPT, staying, or was it this pull to go back and say, okay, we're now trained, let's go back and help our mother country. What, what is the motivation of these individuals?

A I, I think there's a couple things that happen. I mean, I, I mean, this is my own view, and I talked to my colleagues in Saudi Arabia. I really think that they had a sense of responsibility to take in the build process of what tomorrow is going to look like. Uh, I would have done the same if I was in their shoes. I would have went back and really helped into this, uh, this build process. So, um, they learned a lot, and mostly from, I would say, United States and the UK. And now they all came back looking at the opportunity because the inflection point has happened. If you look at the fast-paced transformation, it's an opportunity I don't think they want to miss. It's really changing rapidly.

AI assessment note: “they had a sense of responsibility to take in the build process”

Q So should we think about this as there's, you know, we live in a world, as you said, when, when you're back home here in the U.S., there's AWS, there's GCP, there's, You know, Azure, it's just simple, straightforward, but the rest of the world, a little bit more complicated. Do you see Humane being that competitive alternative for the rest of the world? Is that how it starts, or?

A Well, I think, I think, look at it. In certain areas, we partner really well, and all of them are colleagues and friends. I mean, I've, I've known the CEOs of these companies really well through my tenure in Japan and India. But I will tell you, I think many companies do not see the Middle East the way I see it today, and they don't understand the requirements and the needs of what we have to do to build the depth and the talents. I see in certain areas great partnerships, and in certain other areas, I think that we will be a compelling alternative, but it doesn't mean that we don't partner. So, um, you know, certainly when you see now the partnerships that we announced with the likes of AWS and Google, Uh, clearly I want to see the companies invest in addressing the lack of infrastructure that I saw. So a portion of what we do today will be built on things with our own technology, and a portion will be done also with partnerships with the hyperscalers.

AI assessment note: “in certain other areas, I think that we will be a compelling alternative”

Q Let me, let me ask you a pointed question. You're in Saudi. There's an enormous amount of energy, almost a surfeit of energy. Do you have this unfair advantage where if you need a vast amount of energy to throw out a compute problem, do you effectively get it for free or do you have to pay for it as well?

A No, of course not. I mean, look, um, uh, even though it might seem like I, I wish I could get it for free. I, that would, that would change my business model dramatically. Um, so the, when I took this role, I think one of the key things I said, look, what can we really compete And what can we do to offer to the world something that the world desperately needs today? I think everybody in this room maybe realize we are really just at the beginning of what I would call the AI inferencing world. While the model training will continue to evolve, but now as we move into accelerated compute, I think the demand is going to become much larger than it exists today. So how do we, and what's the challenge? The challenge is really simple power. You know, how do you really find power? So that's where I think Saudi Arabia has a big role to, uh, to participate, and I was bullish enough to tell the world, I said, outside of the United States, outside of China, I really think Saudi Arabia has a good shot to be the third largest country in infrastructure. So, um, we have to go through processes to secure power from the, uh, Ministry of Energy, through the local electric company, I am treated as fairly as any other entity that comes to the country. My rates, my tariff is equivalent to what Google would get to what AWS get. But however, the energy generation that exists in Saudi Arabia is just rema…

AI assessment note: “My rates, my tariff is equivalent to what Google would get to what AWS get.”

Q Tarek, can you maybe explain what Humane is and how it came to be? Because it's, it was sort of an evolution, right?

A Yeah, I mean, it's, it's, um, you know, for, for you to know, um, I'll tell you, we take things for granted in the US to a certain extent. Let's assume you're a startup here and you want to access compute. It's as simple as obviously go into a hyperscaler and within 30 seconds you're ready to go. So, um, This story is fascinating because my first discovery, let's say, in the role I was in at the time, I was hired to really run a subsidiary of Aramco, a new company that was intended to diversify out of its core business and which digital AI was a really core component of it. One of the biggest surprises I had is lack of AI infrastructure. I mean, I did not know that Um, the ability for startups, companies to access AI infrastructure is a challenge. I mean, it took, look how large Aramco is. Took them nine months from the process of purchase order, export control process, deployment, installation. That means we have hindered a company to really achieve its objectives, um, by nine months. So that was the first opportunity that I saw that we need to address in the country. I tell you the story because this is how the humane story started. So I started meeting with several ministers in the country. I told them I see nothing but opportunity. I see something that the country could really do and participate in a global space. I think we have an abundance of land, an abundance of power,…

AI assessment note: “I tell you the story because this is how the humane story started.”

Q States, but also in China. And Saudi Arabia seems to be in this really kind of interesting position as a large energy supplier, as a large partner in capital, and now in building, that could create tension between the rivalry, the global rivalry between the US and China. How do you think about managing each of those two markets, and how you establish relationships, and where do you align yourself?

A So if you, if you see, um, How Humane was launched, and, and I wish I could take a small credit for this, but, um, I've asked for one thing. Before President Trump came to visit, um, Saudi Arabia, we should, you know, please launch the company, three p.m. before. Because we wanted to see, ensure that the alignment that we are going after, we're going after really where the innovation is, the talent that exists, the infrastructure that exists. And let's be really realistic and truthful. Today, the U.S. is leading, especially on the semiconductor side, and we don't want to miss this opportunity. So if you see our partnership that we have done with AMD, with, um, a startup called Grog, Uh, NVIDIA, Qualcomm. It shows you clearly our commitment to this relationship and partnership, and it's really deep. Not only on the silicon side, but the same thing you're going to hear very soon on the AI and the software application, and that's why Humane to Succeed really needs deeper engagement, relationship. I spend a lot of time with, um, With startups in the U S and, um, you know, and as long as to be very honest with you, the hope and the optimism I have and, and David and the team has been doing really a great job with this is our ability to say, we understand very, very well the concerns that one might have. But if you see about my partners that we have selected from software layer in th…

AI assessment note: “Today, the U.S. is leading, especially on the semiconductor side”

Q How is that moving? How do you work with them? How do you make sure that, you know, everybody can get access to the latest models?

A So, so a couple of things we have done and look, um, for people in this audience that have participated in the build of foundation model, you know, it's not trivial and it's not easy. One of the acquisitions that has happened in Humane And this is where I was really, really surprised to see the depth of science team I have today in Humane. I mean, this is the first comment I get in my social post to say, yes, you have capital, but there is no people, no talent. So we ended up building a foundation model, and I'll tell you the reason we did this. We built it from the scratch. It was not distilled of any open source tool. Well, for two reasons. I just wanted to see I mean, A, let's venture into this to understand the depth and the capability of the organization. Second thing, when it comes to culture, language, and biases, you know, I felt that it's important for us to really participate in this arena. So, um, so we launched in Saudi Arabia what we call Humane Chat. I just wanted to see the reaction from, uh, the people that uses this model, and the whole objective of it Arabic first preference is the way we train this model, not English first preference.

AI assessment note: “we launched in Saudi Arabia what we call Humane Chat”