Global AI Hub Law

Type	Law
Issuing authority	Communications, Space & Technology Commission (CST)
Framework	Artificial Intelligence
Tier	Primary law: niẓām (Royal Decree M/…)
Legal status	Draft, consultation closed
Instrument number	CST
Dates	Draft law. Istitlaa consultation 14 April to 14 May 2025 (closed). Not enacted as at 20 October 2026.
Last verified	2026-10-20

Proposed primary law (niẓām), not enacted. The Communications, Space and Technology Commission (CST) published the draft on Istitlaa for consultation from 14 April to 14 May 2025.

Three hub types: private (guest-state law under a bilateral agreement), extended (third-party operator) and virtual (Saudi-incorporated provider with Council of Ministers approval). This is the 'data embassy' model.
Governing law: hosted data would be governed by the guest state's law.
Termination: the Council of Ministers could terminate a hub on security or sovereignty grounds, with a 120-day migration period.
Status: no enacted text in Umm Al-Qura as at 20 October 2026.

Open point: SDAIA's October 2026 draft amendments to the PDPL Implementing Regulation (IR) would add Art 23(2): 'The Controller shall store Personal Data within the Kingdom'. It is not settled whether data held in a hub governed by foreign law would count as stored within the Kingdom.

Updates for this instrument

2025-04-14 · CST publishes draft Global AI Hub Law for consultation: CST published the draft Global AI Hub Law on Istitlaa for consultation from 14 April to 14 May 2025. It proposes private, extended and virtual hubs (the "data embassy" model), with hosted data governed by the guest state

In this framework

Content and register data licensed CC BY 4.0. Cite the live URL. Machine-readable register (JSON) · Markdown register · Content last verified: 2026-10-21