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PIF’s Alat launches business units for electrification, AI infrastructure: Alat, the advanced manufacturing investment platform launched earlier this year by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), has opened the doors at two units focused on electrification and artificial intelligence infrastructure, it said in a statement yesterday. The new units will “address unprecedented global demand for AI infrastructure and the urgent need to support global energy transition by strengthening electricity grid technology.”
The electrification business unit will work on advancing transmission and distribution technologies with a focus on connecting renewable energy sources to the grid, according to the statement. Its scope of work will include advanced technologies for gas and hydrogen generation and compression. The AI infrastructure unit aims to develop AI manufacturing solutions, including network and communications equipment, servers, data center storage and networking equipment, industry 4.0 computing, and others.
SMART POLICY- Alat wants to keep pace with emerging global trends for environmentally friendly computing by using renewable energy sources, including solar, wind, and others for data centers. It expects the future of AI infrastructure will include green data centers to help reduce the environmental footprint of data processing. AI infrastructure is seen playing a vital role in the electrification of transportation, especially in autonomous vehicles and electric mobility.
About Alat: The PIF unit was set up in February with a focus on key sustainable manufacturing sectors, including “advanced industries and semiconductors, smart appliances, smart health, smart devices, and smart buildings, in addition to next generation infrastructure.” It plans to invest USD 100 bn through 2030 across its nine business units, and contribute USD 9.3 bn in direct non-oil GDP by 2030, according to its website.
Alat had a busy quarter, unveiling four new global partnerships a few weeks after its launch as part of a plan to create a sustainable manufacturing hub in the Kingdom. The partnerships include Alat investing USD 150 mn with Japanese technology investment giant Softbank to create an industrial automation venture that will manufacture advanced industrial robots.
