JEDDAH: A new computer operating system that responds to voice commands instead of clicks from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund-backed AI firm Humain is set to debut this week, revealed a senior executive.
The startup said its new product, Humain 1, is designed as a potential alternative to icon-based systems like Windows or macOS that have dominated personal computing since the mid-1980s, Reuters reported, citing a company spokesperson.
This comes as Saudi Arabia is using artificial intelligence to boost innovation and economic growth in key sectors such as healthcare, finance, and logistics. The country is also investing in research and development to strengthen its position as a regional hub for AI and support its shift toward a knowledge-based economy.
“Rather than looking at icons where you click for discrete applications, now you (...) speak your intent,” Reuters quoted Humain CEO Tareq Amin as saying at the FortuneGlobal Forum in Riyadh.
The AI company aims to be the first to officially launch such a system, even as other firms develop similar products. It also plans to build approximately 6 gigawatts of data center capacity.
Launched in May under the Public Investment Fund and chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Humain focuses on developing advanced Arabic language models and large-scale AI infrastructure.
It aims to position Saudi Arabia as a global AI leader by the end of the decade, fostering local innovation, generating intellectual property, and attracting top international AI talent and investment.
A Humain spokesperson told Reuters that “the company started developing the new operating system shortly after it launched in May and has been testing it internally for payroll and human resources systems.”
On Oct. 26, Humain signed a strategic partnership with the FII Institute to advance human-centric AI innovation through thought leadership.
The partnership comes ahead of the 9th edition of FII Institute’s flagship conference, FII9 in Riyadh, where Humain was set to unveil a series of major product and partnership announcements, including its new operating system.
Earlier in October, Humain signed a strategic framework agreement with center3, a regional digital infrastructure company owned by stc Group.
The partnership aims to provide advanced connectivity services to support the company’s efforts to build Saudi Arabia into a global AI hub.
Under the agreement, Humain will use center3’s infrastructure to ensure reliable national and international network connections — a key step in developing the Kingdom’s full-stack AI ecosystem.
In August, the company introduced Humain Chat, an Arabic AI app trained on what the firm says is the world’s largest Arabic-language dataset.
The app is the first product in the firm’s AI suite and is powered by Allam 34B, an Arabic model developed in Saudi Arabia by local engineers. .
