Amazon-backed Scale AI to open office in Saudi Arabia

Scale AI, a startup backed by Amazon.com Inc. that helps companies develop artificial intelligence products, plans to open an office in Saudi Arabia by the end of the year in a broader regional expansion.

A spokesperson for the San Francisco-based company confirmed the plans for a Riyadh location and said Scale AI will open another office in the United Arab Emirates, but declined to share a time line.

“Outside of the US and China, I think this is really the fastest growing region for AI adoption,” Trevor Thompson, global managing director for Scale AI, said in an interview.

The startup’s Middle East expansion comes as the oil-rich Gulf states strive to diversify their economies, pouring billions of dollars into startups, data centers and computing resources. With that push, Saudi Arabia and its neighbors have increasingly asked technology companies to open outposts and hire in the region. Salesforce Inc., for example, recently began hiring for its planned $500 million investment in the kingdom.

Founded in 2016, Scale AI relies on army of contract workers to clean and label reams of data used to make AI chatbots and other products. OpenAI and Microsoft Corp. are customers. Last year, the startup reached a $13.8 billion valuation with a $1 billion funding round that included Amazon, Meta Platforms Inc. and other corporate backers.

Scale AI generated about $870 million in revenue in 2024 and is in talks for a tender offer that would nearly double its valuation, Bloomberg reported in April.

In February, Scale AI signed a five-year deal with Qatar to improve government services. The following month, the startup announced a partnership with Inception, the research unit of Abu Dhabi tech conglomerate G42.

President Donald Trump is set to visit Saudi Arabia this week. His administration is planning to rescind export controls that would have restricted the sale of cutting-edge AI chips to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries.

Scale AI’s former managing director, Michael Kratsios, currently serves as a top Trump aide on technology.