Publicis names Luma AI its preferred AI creative partner across the MENA region with a new Saudi office supporting clients and Arabic-native AI development through HUMAIN Create.
Luma AI, the frontier artificial intelligence company focused on building multimodal artificial general intelligence (AGI), has announced plans to open a dedicated office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, marking a major expansion of its footprint in the Middle East and reinforcing the rollout of HUMAIN Create. The company also unveiled a strategic partnership with Publicis Groupe Middle East to advance AI-powered advertising and creative production across the MENA region.
The new Riyadh office will strengthen Luma AI’s collaboration with HUMAIN and support the development of what is described as the world’s first Saudi-built, Arabic-native foundation model. The model will be deployed through HUMAIN Create, HUMAIN’s generative AI platform designed to integrate advanced AI models, tools and infrastructure. For Luma AI, the Riyadh base will function as a regional hub for client engagement, strategic partnerships and advanced AI research and development.
Through HUMAIN Create, Luma AI’s systems will be trained on Arabic language and regional datasets, enabling public and private sector creators to leverage AI tools that reflect local language, culture and creative nuances. As part of its regional expansion, the company plans to recruit local talent across multiple disciplines, including AI and software engineering, go-to-market leadership and forward-deployed creative and technical teams to work closely with customers and partners throughout Saudi Arabia and the wider MENA market.
Amit Jain, CEO and Co-Founder of Luma AI, said: “Saudi Arabia is the natural home for our regional headquarters in MENA. The Kingdom has one of the most ambitious and technically capable workforces in the world. Establishing a local office allows Luma AI to work directly with this next generation of builders and creators, while developing AI that is deeply connected to the region it serves. We are proud to establish our presence in Riyadh, aimed to deepen our partnership with HUMAIN and support the delivery of high quality content.”
Tareq Amin, CEO of HUMAIN, added: “This new office marks a major step forward in deepening our collaboration with Luma AI. Through HUMAIN Create, we are accelerating the development of Arabic-native, culturally fluent AI systems that enable creators, brands, and organizations across the region. Our collaboration with Luma AI is supported by frontier compute through Project Halo, a large-scale 2GW AI supercluster under development in Saudi Arabia that will provide frontier training and inference capacity to power next-generation generative AI applications at scale. Together, we are redefining how intelligence, creativity, and scale come together in the next era of AI-driven content.”
In a parallel announcement, Luma AI confirmed a strategic partnership with Publicis Groupe Middle East, in collaboration with HUMAIN, naming Luma AI as the preferred generative AI technology partner for the communications group across Saudi Arabia and the broader MENA region.
Under the agreement, Publicis Groupe Middle East will integrate Luma AI’s generative video and multimodal AI technologies into its creative and production workflows. The move is expected to enable brands to deliver faster, more personalised and culturally relevant advertising campaigns across various markets and platforms.
Bassel Kakish, CEO of Publicis Groupe Middle East & Turkey, stated: “This partnership reflects how we see the future of creativity in the region, where generative AI is not an add-on but embedded at the heart of how ideas are conceived, produced, and scaled. By partnering with Luma AI and HUMAIN, we are accelerating transformation across our creative systems, enabling our teams to deliver more ambitious, culturally grounded, and technologically advanced work, while helping our clients unlock a higher level of creativity, relevance and impact across the region.”
Jason Day, Head of EMEA at Luma AI, commented: “Advertising is entering a new era where creativity, intelligence, and production converge. Partnering with Publicis Groupe Middle East and HUMAIN allows us to embed generative video and multimodal AI directly into the creative process, unlocking speed, scale, and creative ambition for brands across MENA, while building AI systems that truly understand the region.”
