Following recent cloud announcements by its competitors, Alibaba Cloud, Google and Amazon Web Services, Tencent has disclosed its intentions to expand its cloud business in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, signaling substantial new investments in data storage, as reported by Bloomberg.

Initially, Tencent will focus on delivering cloud storage services to entertainment and gaming enterprises in the region. Subsequently, the company will provide computing resources tailored for artificial intelligence applications.

This expansion of cloud capabilities stems from the increased presence of entertainment and gaming enterprises in the region, along with a growing interest in artificial intelligence in the Middle East.

While the specifics of Tencent’s investments are still unfolding, Senior Executive Vice President Dowson Tong has indicated that they are in the early stages but expected to accelerate rapidly in the coming months.

“We are going to announce more throughout the year. We see a lot of potential in this market so will be increasing our investment,” Tong stated.

Tencent is not the first to double-down in the region: Alibaba and Saudi Telecom Company joined forces to establish Alibaba Cloud, with an initial investment of $238 million in cloud computing infrastructure. Amazon Web Services (AWS) recently confirmed its intention to launch a cloud region in Saudi Arabia by 2026, backed by a long-term investment plan amounting to $5.3 billion. In November 2023, Google also launched a cloud region in Saudi Arabia.