Saudi Arabia’s Neom Unveils AI City That Learns From Its Residents—and Watches Everything

Something strange is starting to take shape in the desert north of Tabuk, where the wind carries dust across the sand in slow spirals. The early framework of NEOM, which its designers maintain will not only house people but also discreetly study them, is marked by long rows of foundation piles that extend toward the horizon.

Under a sun so bright that everything loses its color, workers wearing reflective vests move between concrete segments. Some take a moment to look at tablets that show real-time construction analytics as part of an efficiency monitoring system. As though the city is practicing its future personality, it’s difficult to ignore how even the construction process itself is being observed, measured, and optimized.

THE LINE, a mirrored hallway that emerges from the desert, is at the heart of this goal. Running 170 kilometers, it promises a fully integrated artificial intelligence that continuously learns from the rhythms of everyday life—something that cities have never been able to deliver. Every action, including commutes, shopping patterns, and energy consumption, feeds into systems that modify services accordingly.

Convenience might end up being nearly undetectable.

The “cognitive city,” according to officials close to Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030, is intended to foresee needs before locals express them. The lights automatically dim. Transit timetables change on the fly. Over time, climate controls adapt to individual preferences.

The thought is both enticing and unnerving.

Engineers explain using up to 90% of the city’s data to increase efficiency in planning presentations. That figure sticks in your head. It portrays a world in which almost everything becomes feedback and where infrastructure is created by human behavior.

It seems as though this city is being created both for and by its citizens.

Recent years have seen a greater emphasis on AI, in part due to economic realities. The Public Investment Fund and other project backers started prioritizing digital infrastructure over sheer physical scale as construction costs increased. The more aesthetically pleasing mirrored towers are now surrounded by data centers, automated logistics, and AI-driven ports.

Investors appear to think that computation may hold more true value than real estate.

Early experiments are already in progress on the site. Artificial intelligence (AI) systems track cargo movement at NEOM’s industrial port, Oxagon, anticipating bottlenecks before they occur. Trucks are recognized by cameras and biometric scanners as they pass through checkpoints without stopping.

It resembles a living operating system more than a city when you watch it in action.

Cities have always learned more slowly, of course. Streets are reshaped by traffic patterns. Communities develop naturally. However, NEOM speeds up adaptation from decades to days by condensing that process into software cycles.

Whether residents will find that intrusive or empowering is still up in the air.

In private, some urban planners are concerned about the trade-offs. In order for a city to learn from you, it must also observe you, and such extensive observation creates unanswered privacy concerns. Officials stress efficiency and security. Autonomy is questioned by critics.

Both viewpoints appear to be realistic.

The only sounds in the desert outside the construction zones are the rumble of machinery and the occasional helicopter flying overhead. It’s a strange juxtaposition of algorithmic ambition and ancient emptiness.

Two timelines seem to be colliding in this instance.

The leadership of Saudi Arabia believes that NEOM encompasses more than just urban planning. It’s an effort to shift the nation’s future away from oil and toward data and technology. Saudi Arabia today was built on oil. They believe that artificial intelligence may determine the future.

The weight of that ambition is tremendous.

Cities around the world are keeping a close eye. Sensor-driven infrastructure is being tested by planners in Singapore. Although on a smaller scale, Songdo integrated smart systems in South Korea years ago. Even Silicon Valley has dabbled in creating experimental neighborhoods.

However, NEOM functions on a completely different scale.

Some early residents, who are anticipated to move in within ten years, might discover that their surroundings are continuously changing—foreseeing their routines, making the best use of their movements, and gently nudge behavior.

Depending on the person, that may feel more like control or freedom. Convenience is a common language used by technology.

There is an uneasy sense that something fundamental is changing as you stand at the edge of the construction zone and watch mirrored panels being lifted into place. People have always been shaped by cities. They might now start reshaping themselves in reaction.

And it might be challenging to stop that process once it has begun.