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  • Beyond oil: Google’s big bet on Saudi Arabia’s AI future

    In a landmark move signaling the growing importance of the Middle East in the global tech landscape, Google has entered into a strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund. Google Cloud and PIF announced the agreement, which would see the establishment of a new artificial intelligence (AI) hub in Saudi Arabia, on the sidelines of the Future Investment Initiative 8th Edition (FII8) conference in Riyadh. The hub, to be located near Dammam in the Eastern Province, will feature the latest Google Cloud infrastructure, including tensor processing units (TPUs) and graphics processing units (GPUs). The partnership aims to position Saudi Arabia as a global AI leader, drive advancements in Arabic language AI models, and create thousands of jobs in the technology sector. The partnership underscores the “growing interlink” between AI and energy, as Saudi Arabia — along with the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf states — uses its energy surplus to power data centers, a critical pillar of AI infrastructure. This energy advantage makes the region increasingly attractive to tech giants like Google, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Amazon.

  • How Donald Trump might tackle the Middle East in 2025

    When asked if he would re-negotiate a deal with Iran if he was re-elected, Trump said “Sure, I would do that” and that “we have to make a deal because the consequences are impossible.” He also asserted that Iran would have made a deal because “[he] gave them a country that wanted to make a deal. They had to. There was no money to Hamas. There was no money to Hezbollah.”

  • Saudi Arabia Bets $10B on Green Hydrogen

    “Green hydrogen is currently more expensive,” said the chief executive of Emsteel Group,  Masdar’s partner in the green hydrogen venture in comments on the news. “This highlights the need for alignment with regulators, suppliers, steel producers and customers,” Saeed Ghumran Al Remeithi added. When a business executive talks about the cost of a technology and “alignment with regulators,” he most probably means state fund support, also known as subsidies. Indeed, green hydrogen is several times as expensive to produce as the cheaper versions of the element that feature natural gas. This appears to be an obstacle that is increasingly looking insurmountable.

  • Saudi crown prince receives medical team that performed world’s first fully robotic heart transplant

    Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Wednesday received the Saudi medical team that successfully performed the world’s first fully robotic heart transplant. The transplant was performed at Riyadh’s King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre in September on a 16-year-old patient suffering from end-stage heart failure. The crown prince congratulated the medical team and the leadership of the hospital on the historic achievement, praising the efforts of Saudi personnel and their ability to innovate and achieve a global precedent in the medical field.

  • Saudi Arabia’s grain output hits 1.7M tons in 2023

    Production of grain crops in the Kingdom amounted to 1.75 million tons in 2023, the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) revealed in its recently issued report on agricultural statistics. According to the report, the total area planted with grain crops in 2023 amounted to about 331,000 hectares, of which around 323,000 hectares in harvested area. The wheat crop topped the list with 63.4% of the total area planted with grains, with a production volume of 1.31 million tons.

  • Google’s new AI hub in Saudi Arabia aims to add $71 billion to local economy

    The establishment of the hub is anticipated to contribute as much as $71 billion to Saudi Arabia’s economy. This projection underscores the significant economic potential tied to embracing advanced AI applications. The agreement is anticipated to speed up the integration of AI—specifically in Arabic—within major sectors such as healthcare, retail, and financial services across Saudi Arabia, the Middle East, Africa, and “around the world,” Ruth Porat, president and chief investment officer of Google and Alphabet, stated. “As part of Saudi Arabia’s rich technology ecosystem, we aim to create highly skilled jobs for Saudis and opportunities for global businesses to fuel growth through cloud adoption,” she added.

  • Sotheby’s Plans Its First-Ever Auction in Saudi Arabia

    The sale will take place on February 8, 2025, and is titled “Origins.” It will feature art by both Saudi artists and internationally known names, as well as a range of luxury items, including jewelry, watches, cars, sports memorabilia, and handbags. The auction and a related pre-sale exhibition will be held in the historic Diriyah, where the First Saudi State was inaugurated in 1727. Sotheby’s leaders said the company was officially incorporated in the country at the end of last year. The auction house plans to open an office in the Riyadh landmark Al Faisaliah Tower, which was designed by Norman Foster.

  • What links have Trump and his allies maintained with Gulf states?

    Donald Trump, who won a second term in office with his victory in Tuesday's U.S. presidential election, and several of his allies continued to engage with the most powerful and wealthy Gulf countries after his first term ended in 2020. They have forged multi-million dollar business deals and engaged in quiet, behind-the-scenes diplomacy. Trump hosted Qatar's ruling emir and the UAE president separately at his Mar-a-Lago residence and private club in September on the sidelines of their official visits. *Several times since Trump left the White House, Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, discussed U.S.-Saudi diplomacy with Saudi Arabia's crown prince and de-facto ruler Mohammed bin Salman, known as MBS. Kushner attended the 2022 soccer World Cup in Qatar.

  • Gulf States See Trump as Ally They Can Do Business With

    “Obviously, we worked with President Trump before, so we know him and we can find a way to work with him very well,” the Saudi foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, told CNN last week during the kingdom’s annual investment forum nicknamed “Davos in the Desert.” During his last presidency, Mr. Trump fostered personal relationships with Gulf leaders, offered strong defense support for their countries while steering away from criticizing their human rights records. This time around, the Gulf states will likely look to the new Trump administration for help in ending the devastating war in the Middle East, firm security guarantees and American investment as they try to diversify the region’s economic base away from almost total reliance on energy.

  • Ford is the fastest-growing auto brand in Saudi Arabia ahead of upcoming overseas EV push

    More people are buying Ford’s vehicles in The Middle East than ever. “2024 has been an exceptional year for Ford in the Middle East, with sales having doubled since 2022,” president of Ford Middle East, Ravi Ravichandran, said Thursday. Ford’s success is being driven by “strong market share gains by our distributors,” Ravichandran explained.  The “Mustang Mach E represents a landmark moment for us,” Ford’s president of International Markets Group, Kay Hart, said. “It’s our first fully electric vehicle for the region and is truly one of the most exciting vehicles Ford has ever produced.” Ford will launch the 2025 Mustang Mach-E in the region next year. It will be available in two battery options with an estimated range of 350 to 450 km (217 to 280 miles).