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  • White House Supports Development of ‘A New United States-Saudi Program’, Endorses Strong Saudi Relationship
     

    The White House released a statement yesterday calling for the development of “a new United States-Saudi program” after the President hosted Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for a lunch meeting. The statement re-affirmed the U.S.-Saudi political, military, security, economic, cultural, and social relationship and the importance of the U.S. and Saudi Arabia working together “based […]

     
  • Saudi Aramco Selects D.C.-Based FTI Consulting as Media Advisor for IPO, Report Says
     

    Saudi Aramco has chosen Washington, D.C.-based FTI Consulting as global media adviser for what is expected to be the world’s largest initial public share offer, industry sources told Reuters. FTI Consulting will join already-tapped financial houses to assist with the listing, including Moelis & Co., Evercore, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Morgan Stanley. FTI “will support Aramco’s communications […]

     
  • U.S., Saudi Arabian Agribusiness Majors May Partner to Bid on Saudi Grains Milling Privatization
     

    Saudi Arabia’s largest private agriculture company, Almarai, and U.S. agribusiness Archer Daniels Midland Co. are reportedly among companies eying Saudi Grains Organization’s (SAGO) milling operations, the kingdom’s sole supplier, according to an exclusive report by Reuters. The state-owned SAGO handles the Kingdom’s grains purchases, and is one of the world’s largest wheat and barley buyers. The company […]

     
  • Despite Major Investments in Uber, Careem, Saudi Arabia Bans Ride-Sharing Apps from Airport Pickups
     

    Saudi Arabia’s government has banned ride-sharing apps from making airport pickups, a report in Al Arabiya said, less than a year after the Kingdom’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) invested $3.5 billion into Uber and STC put $100m into Careem. The announcement is a setback for customers who prefer the ease, convenience, dependability, and safety of ride-sharing apps […]

     
  • Aramco Taps Three Banks to Underwrite ‘Largest Ever’ IPO
     

    Saudi Aramco has asked JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley to assist with its upcoming initial public offering and could call on another bank, HSBC, with access to Chinese investors, according to separate reports in Reuters and the Wall Street Journal, which cited unnamed sources. The major U.S. banks join Moelis & Co., a […]

     
  • Seven Saudi Soldiers Killed on Yemen’s Border Last Week
     

    At least seven Saudi soldiers have been killed in the past week in clashes with Yemeni rebels, Al Jazeera reports, citing the Saudi Press Agency (SPA). Mohammed al-Manjahi was the latest soldier to be killed on the kingdom’s southern borders in the fight against Houthi rebels. According to an AFP news agency tally compiling reports by the Saudi […]

     
  • Secretary of State Tillerson Calls Saudi King Salman, Applauds Saudi Role in Regional Stability
     

    U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called Saudi Arabia’s King Salman by phone yesterday, and commended the Kingdom on its role in “promoting stability across the region,” the SPA reports. Tillerson also “stressed on the importance of working with the Kingdom, developing a comprehensive plan to strengthen bilateral relations and cooperation both military and counter-terrorism […]

     
  • December Data a Mixed Picture for Saudi Economy
     

    Saudi Arabia’s total government accounts with SAMA fell $80 billion last year, representing a significant slowdown from 2015 which saw a $116 billion net decline, according to a recently released chartbook by Jadwa Investment. The net monthly change to government accounts with SAMA remained negative in December, falling for the seventh consecutive month, part of […]

     
  • Trump Turns Up Rhetoric, Threats Toward Iran
     

    The Trump administration says it is putting Iran “on notice” following two incidents in the region in the past week, including an attack on a Saudi navy ship by Iran-backed Houthi rebels. The comments came from President Trump on Twitter as he blasted the agreement to disarm Iran’s nuclear program. “Iran was on its last legs […]

     
  • U.S.-Saudi Arabia Continue Strong Defense Ties in Trump Administration’s Early Days
     

    Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke by phone with Secretary of Defense James Mattis today to discuss mutual cooperation on security issues, according to the SPA and the Saudi Gazette. The Deputy Crown Prince also serves as minister of defense and chair of the powerful Council on Economic and Development Affairs (CEDA). The U.S.-Saudi relationship is […]

     

MUST-READS

  • After Netflix debut, banned Indian film sparks furor on Saudi social media

    An Indian film depicting the true story of a migrant worker caught in miserable conditions in Saudi Arabia is sparking an uproar in Gulf Arab states. Critics say the production tarnishes the Kingdom’s image, while others see a stark portrayal of rights abuses that migrant workers allegedly face. The controversy comes as Riyadh moves to rebrand itself under its ambitious Vision 2030 economic diversification agenda.

  • UN chief says lack of accountability on UN staff killings in Gaza ‘unacceptable’

    A lack of accountability for the killing of United Nations staff and humanitarian aid workers in the Gaza Strip is "totally unacceptable," U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told Reuters in a wide-ranging interview on Wednesday.

  • Top Arabic chatbot title claimed by Saudi Arabia’s updated Allam

    Saudi Arabia’s Arabic language artificial intelligence (AI) chat model, Allam, is now the largest Arabic-language chatbot in the world and will be available on prominent platforms by Microsoft and IBM, officials announced this week.  Allam is a “large language model”, or LLM, that was first launched by a subsidiary of the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) in 2023. Now the SDAIA is about to roll out its most advanced versions.

  • Saudi Arabia targets 12% GDP contribution from AI by 2030

    Saudi Arabia aims to have artificial intelligence (AI) contribute 12% of its GDP by 2030, with the sector projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 29%. According to the Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA) State of AI report, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) will spearhead the development of a robust AI ecosystem in the kingdom.

  • Saudi Arabia’s trillion-dollar economy gains momentum, fueled by Vision 2030

    Newly-released figures from the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) show Saudi Arabia’s non-oil activities grew 4.9 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2024, fueled by strong performance in the financial and insurance sectors, while wholesale and retail trade, alongside restaurants and hotels, grew by 6.8 percent. Government consumption expenditure rose by 10.9 percent year-on-year, with a 4.3 percent increase quarter-on-quarter.

  • Bahrain Offloads Stake in Key Saudi Oil Pipeline to BlackRock

    Bapco Energies, which manages the nation’s energy infrastructure including the pipeline, sold a minority ownership stake in the Saudi Bahrain Pipeline Company to a fund managed by BlackRock’s diversified infrastructure team, according to a statement, which didn’t include terms. The pipeline can transport as much as 350,000 barrels of oil per day and connects Saudi oil processing facilities at Abqaiq with the Bapco refinery in Bahrain.

  • Sources of Saudi Tourism: Who’s Traveling, Who’s Spending?

    Saudis are exploring their own country in bigger numbers and foreigners are bringing the cash. That’s the takeaway from a report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the state of the Saudi economy. “The surge of visitors has been mostly domestic-driven while the surge in visitors’ spending was mostly inbound-driven (i.e., international arrivals),” said the IMF report. Saudi reported 109 million visitors in 2023, beating its initial target of 100 million visitors by 2030 – a goal it has since lifted to 150 million.

  • US closer to greenlighting Nvidia chips for Saudi Arabia, Semafor reports

    The U.S. government is considering allowing Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab to export advanced chips to Saudi Arabia, which would help the country train and run the most powerful AI models, Semafor reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The sales of the chips were a main but unofficial topic at GAIN, Saudi Arabia's global AI summit, the report said. Attendees of the summit, including some who work for the Saudi Data and AI Authority, told Semafor that the country is making efforts to comply with U.S. security requirements to expedite the acquisition of the chips.

  • US closer to green lighting Nvidia chips for Saudi Arabia

    The US government is considering allowing Nvidia to export advanced chips to Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter said, which would help the country train and run the most powerful AI models. The fate of those sales was a major, unofficial topic at Saudi Arabia’s global AI summit, known as GAIN, on Thursday. Representatives from AI hardware firm Groq, Google, and Qualcomm, along with Saudi government officials, mingled and spoke at the event.

  • Riyadh Season goes on tour as Saudi Arabia shapes future of boxing

    But on August 3, at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, the Riyadh Season brand went on tour for the first time as pound-for-pound great Terence Crawford headlined a stacked card described stateside as the best in a generation. The next stop is London for another Saudi roadshow on September 21, when Anthony Joshua takes on Daniel Dubois at the top of another card so deep that Wembley may appear unusually full long before the sun recedes behind those vast red stands.