Trump's Middle East Visit Sparks $600 Billion AI Investment Surge

Trump's Mideast Visit Opens Floodgate of AI Deals Led by Nvidia

The Trump administration is clearing a path for two key Persian Gulf allies to pursue their artificial intelligence ambitions -- and some of the biggest US tech companies are seizing on that opening with plans to spend billions of dollars in the region. Under agreements with the US expected to be unveiled in coming days, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are poised to win wider access to advanced AI chips from Nvidia Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. that are considered the gold standard for running AI models.

US tech titans rejoice in $600B Saudi shopping spree

Prince Mohammed bin Bone Saw will take a few hundred thousand GPUs with his missiles and fighter jets The Saudi government on Tuesday announced a massive $600 billion investment in US defense, transportation, energy, and IT infrastructure. It's not just American military contractors reveling at the thought of packing Saudi armories and airfields with $142 billion worth of fighter jets and missiles. Prince Mohammed bin Salman's shopping spree also includes packing its bit barns with America's finest GPUs and AI accelerators. By 2030, the nation aims to deploy several hundred thousand of these chips, as it looks to move away from being an extractive petrostate and establish itself as a center for AI research and development. These deployments will be overseen by a just-announced Saudi state-backed startup called Humain - oh the irony - with plans to offer a variety of AI services, products and tools, and advance the development of "one of the world's most powerful multimodal Arabic large language models (LLMs)." While the US and Saudi Arabia long been allies, it still represents a shift in US trade policy with regard to AI accelerators. Going back to mid-2023, access to these chips have been restricted across much of the Middle East, for fear that the chips may have passed through on their way to Russia, China, or other US adversaries. AI diffusion rules put forward in the final days of the Biden administration would have further cemented those rules, but were officially rescinded earlier on Tuesday. Among the first of these deployments will be a cluster of 18,000 of Nvidia's GB300 superchips, each of which is equipped with four Blackwell Ultra GPUs for a total of 72,000 accelerators. That works out to 1,000 NVL72 racks totaling roughly 120MW of compute. And that's just the beginning, or so we're told. In a statement Tuesday, Nvidia said Humain would deploy roughly 500 megawatts of "AI factories" powered by "several hundred thousand of Nvidia's most advanced GPUs over the next five years." The Saudis aren't betting it all on Nvidia. In a separate statement, AMD said it's also very happy to help Humain spend up to $10 billion on rolling out 500MW of AMD-based AI compute over that same period. While AMD didn't say just how many chips it would sell to the Saudi upstart, it did say these deployments would span its portfolio of CPUs, GPUs, DPUs, and mobile processors. All of these accelerators will need datacenters to go into, and at least some of them are likely to find a home in Amazon Web Services' Saudi cloud region, set to open in 2026. In a statement, the cloud giant said the $5.3 billion datacenter campus -- or as they've taken to calling it an "AI Zone" -- will be packed brimful with compute, AI infrastructure, networking, and services. Speaking of networking, Humain has tapped Cisco to build out its network infrastructure and provide training to local IT professionals at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. Qualcomm, meanwhile, has signed up to provide Humain with AI datacenters, a new server-class CPU platform, and a host of SoCs for AI edge compute. And while AI chip startup Groq didn't make any announcements specific to Humain today, the company will reportedly power at least some of the AI provider's inference services. This wouldn't be too surprising, as Groq already has close ties to Saudi oil magnate Aramco. The kingdom's AI ambitions aren't limited to domestic IT infrastructure either. Saudi-based DataVolt will allegedly invest $20 billion in AI datacenters and energy infrastructure in the US, according a White House fact sheet. The datacenter operator is also working with Google, Oracle, Salesforce, AMD, and Uber to invest a collective $80 billion in "cutting-edge transformative technologies in both countries." The Saudis may soon face some competition in the region. Later this week, Trump is slated to visit the United Arab Emirates, where he's widely expected to loosen chip curbs. ®

Trump's Saudi victory lap belies AI fears

NEW YORK, May 13 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The United States does not hold a monopoly on technological breakthroughs. As it sought to contain China's advances in artificial intelligence, President Joe Biden's administration tried to use restrictions on cutting-edge chips from Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab as a cudgel, slowing progress elsewhere. His successor Donald Trump, who just kicked off a Middle East tour in Saudi Arabia, is now changing tack - by making use of U.S. silicon contingent on spurning Chinese alternatives. Trump on Tuesday announced, opens new tab a lump of investment deals with Saudi Arabia which the White House claimed tops $600 billion in value, encompassing cooperation between the nation's firms and promised supplies of weaponry. Within the grab-bag came news, opens new tab from Nvidia that it will work with Humain, an AI firm backed by Saudi's Public Investment Fund, to set up facilities with enough chips to consume up to 500 megawatts of power. That was swiftly followed by a Bureau of Industry and Security announcement, opens new tab that any use of Chinese rival Huawei's competing Ascend chips, anywhere in the world, now constitutes a violation of U.S. export controls. Under so-called AI diffusion rules, opens new tab implemented under Biden, Saudi and its neighbors saw their access to U.S. AI-powering microchips limited. Trump officials had blasted this as misguided, with AI czar David Sacks saying that there is no risk "with a friend like Saudi Arabia" and that the U.S. does not need to block the global spread of its technology. The Department of Commerce rescinded the Biden-era controls on Tuesday. The Biden agenda reflected an implicit assumption that U.S. tech was superior, and that the key priority was blocking Chinese access to it. DeepSeek, a breakthrough AI model, showed what firms in the People's Republic could do when forced to design around restricted supplies. Now, chipmaker Huawei has launched updated systems using Ascend chips that, while less advanced than Nvidia's state-of-the-art products, provide, opens new tab a lot of brute-force grunt. Trump and Nvidia's Humain and export control gambits have a blunt logic. If buyers are forced to use Chinese silicon, the country's firms have captive demand that can fund rapid development. Opening up U.S. supplies to allies helps to contain this dynamic - and so does making it harder for interested customers like Saudi and the United Arab Emirates to buy Chinese. How this can be practically enforced is unclear. Locking the world into American supply chains, though, would bolster Nvidia and its peers. After taking a $5.5 billion hit, opens new tab from tightened restrictions on even its cut-down products for the Chinese market, shares of the firm led by CEO Jensen Huang surged over 6% on Tuesday. If you can't beat them, make others join you. Follow @JMAGuilford, opens new tab on X CONTEXT NEWS The White House on May 13 announced a series of investment commitments between the U.S. and Saudi governments and firms from the respective countries. Nvidia said that it will work with Humain, an artificial intelligence startup backed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, to build new AI facilities in the country. The U.S. administration is working on deals to allow greater access to AI chips for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Bloomberg reported. Separately, the Department of Commerce rescinded a set of rules implemented under President Joe Biden that controlled the export of AI chips, announcing that it will impose a new set of guidelines. The Bureau of Industry and Security also issued guidance that using Ascend chips manufactured by Huawei "anywhere in the world" is now a violation of U.S. export controls. Editing by George Hay and Maya Nandhini Suggested Topics:Breakingviews Breakingviews Reuters Breakingviews is the world's leading source of agenda-setting financial insight. As the Reuters brand for financial commentary, we dissect the big business and economic stories as they break around the world every day. A global team of about 30 correspondents in New York, London, Hong Kong and other major cities provides expert analysis in real time. Sign up for a free trial of our full service at https://www.breakingviews.com/trial and follow us on Twitter @Breakingviews and at www.breakingviews.com. All opinions expressed are those of the authors. Jonathan Guilford Thomson Reuters Jonathan Guilford is Breakingviews U.S. Editor, based in New York. He has covered financial news across Europe and the United States for 10 years. He joined Reuters Breakingviews in 2021 from Dealreporter, where he led risk arb coverage strategy from New York while covering the technology, media and telecommunications space. He previously covered the European healthcare services market. He studied English and Italian at Royal Holloway, University of London.

Big Tech's next AI bet is a 'watershed moment,' analyst says -- and a $1 trillion opportunity

The Middle East could rapidly become the next major frontier for artificial intelligence, and U.S. tech giants are lining up to cash in. In what Wedbush analysts are calling a "watershed moment" for Big Tech, recent developments in the region mean the AI boom might be rapidly shifting its center of gravity. A wave of investment in AI infrastructure across Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates is signaling an acceleration in U.S. tech companies' expansion abroad. According to a Monday note from analysts led by Dan Ives, the region is poised to become one of the most important global markets for AI over the next decade, potentially adding over $1 trillion. "We believe the market opportunity in Saudi Arabia and UAE alone could over time add another $1 trillion to the broader global AI market in the coming years," the note said, "and this dynamic is not being priced into the market and tech names in our view." Wedbush wrote that it is becoming "crystal clear" that the "AI Revolution has found its next major area of penetration...the Middle East." This inflection point comes on the heels of President Donald Trump's recent high-profile visit to Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, which focused heavily on U.S. involvement in the region's ambitious AI infrastructure plans. Among the standout deals: Humain, a Saudi-backed AI startup, announced it will deploy 18,000 of Nvidia's (NVDA) cutting-edge AI chips to power a 500-megawatt data center -- one of the largest of its kind. "[That announcement] is the start of a new era of growth for the US tech sector and a gamechanger for the industry," the note said. "Riyadh and UAE will be a major buyer of AI chips, software, autonomous/robotics, and datacenters over the next decade." For decades, the Gulf region has leveraged its oil wealth to diversify into new markets: finance, tourism, and energy-transition technologies. But this focus on AI might mark its most ambitious pivot yet. Governments in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi aren't just buying chips -- they're buying a future in which the Middle East becomes a global AI hub. At the core of this strategy is a growing alliance between Gulf governments and U.S. technology companies. Nvidia, Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOGL), Palantir (PLTR), and Tesla (TSLA) are all positioning themselves in the region to be key players in what could be full-throttle AI buildout. The sharp pivot to the Middle East comes amid tensions between the U.S. and China. While Saudi Arabia is rolling out the red carpet for Nvidia's latest-generation chips, China is seeing growing restrictions even on underpowered GPUs such as the H20, as the U.S. attempts to restrain the country's domestic AI ambitions. This divergence is shaping up to be a central theme in the larger AI race. Wedbush characterized the Trump administration's positioning as a "global game of high-stakes poker" to isolate China while turbocharging U.S. influence in the Gulf through technology. "China is clearly taking notice and this adds to the drama of the broader US/China tariff/trade talks over the coming months," Wedbush said. The note said these developments are a "bullish indicator that further shows the US tech's lead in this 4th Industrial Revolution." And at the center of it all is Nvidia -- and the "Godfather of AI," as Wedbush calls CEO Jensen Huang -- cementing its position not just as a hardware company, but as a geopolitical force shaping the future of artificial intelligence.

A Saudi AI opportunity worth $1 trillion wins over Wall Street -- and boosts Nvidia stock

The next front in the AI arms race isn't Beijing. It's in Riyadh, at least according to Wedbush. A new memo from the firm, released early Wednesday, portrayed this week's U.S.-Saudi forum as a major bullish shift in global tech power dynamics. President Donald Trump arrived in the Saudi capital on Tuesday to a lavish reception, escorted by six Royal Saudi F-15 fighter jets. On the ground, he was joined by a who's who of U.S. tech, including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Amazon (AMZN-2.87%) CEO Andy Jassy, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and Alphabet's (GOOGL-1.57%) Ruth Porat. Wedbush estimates the Saudi Arabian AI opportunity could add $1 trillion to the globe's total AI addressable market. A sweeping new partnership between Nvidia and Saudi Arabia's sovereign AI initiative, Humain, was the focus of the gathering. Under the deal, Nvidia will sell 18,000 next-gen Blackwell chips to power the Kingdom's first supercomputer. Over the next five years, Saudi Arabia plans to build out a network of AI data centers to train and deploy sovereign models as part of its Vision 2030 push to diversify away from oil. In tandem, Nvidia stock soared almost 6% on Tuesday and climbed another 3% before Wednesday's opening bell, in a two-day rally sparked in large part by the news. A move like that for a company Nvidia's size is worth roughly $300 billion in market value - equal to Palantir's (PLTR+1.01%) entire market cap, for context. Days before the trip, the U.S. Commerce Department rescinded the Biden-era AI Diffusion Rule, a sweeping framework that would have imposed tiered export controls across dozens of countries. As Bloomberg reported, the Trump administration plans to replace it with a more flexible, transactional approach, easing restrictions for close allies like Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and tightening them for countries less in favor, including China and Malaysia. Whether the news is unambiguously bullish is another matter. The reversal of U.S. policy introduces new layers of uncertainty. There's the ethical and strategic risk of handing sovereign AI capabilities to authoritarian states. And while transactional diplomacy may unlock short-term access in some markets, it replaces a rules-based system with case-by-case dealmaking. Critics warn that this shift could fragment AI-related laws, regulations, and oversight. In short, one AI Cold War may be easing. Another looks to be unfolding. "Who controls A.I. is the geopolitical question of our time," Jim Secreto, a former deputy chief of staff at the Commerce Department, told the New York Times. For the Trump administration, that question is becoming less about containment and more about cutting deals.

Nvidia stock soars on US-Saudi AI deal backed by Trump, bin Salman

Nvidia's shares soared amid billions of dollars in artificial intelligence investment deals made between US President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as the Trump administration deepens ties with the wealthy Middle Eastern nation. Nvidia's shares surged 5.6% on Tuesday, boosted by a tens-of-billions-of-dollars artificial intelligence (AI) investment plan agreed between the US and Saudi Arabia. However, the AI powerhouse's stock remains down 4.5% year-to-date as of market close on 13 May, facing challenges stemming from US-China trade tensions and the launch of China's DeepSeek, a lower-cost AI model. CEO Jensen Huang was among the US tech leaders -- alongside Tesla's Elon Musk, OpenAI's Sam Altman, AMD's Lisa Su, Palantir's Alex Karp, and other executives -- who accompanied President Trump on his visit to Saudi Arabia. At the investment conference, the White House announced a $600 billion investment pledge by the Middle Eastern kingdom into the US, including a nearly $142 billion defence sales deal, an $80 billion commitment into "cutting-edge transformative technologies" in both countries, and other agreements across energy, aerospace, and sports sectors. Trump also vowed to lift all sanctions against Syria during his visit, a political gesture to warm the relationship with key Middle East countries. He is also going to meet leaders of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) later this week. Nvidia announced it will partner with HUMAIN, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund focused on AI, to transform the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) into "a global powerhouse in AI, cloud and enterprise computing, digital twins and robotics." Nvidia will supply its most advanced AI chips over the next five years, including 18,000 units of the GB200 Grace Blackwell AI supercomputer with its InfiniBand networking in the initial phase. The purchase forms part of a broader project for HUMAIN to build AI factories in the kingdom, with a projected capacity of up to 500 megawatts. The announcement also includes a deal with the Saudi Data & AI Authority (SDAIA), which will "deploy up to 5,000 Blackwell GPUs for a sovereign AI factory and enable smart city solutions." Aramco Digital, the technology arm of oil giant Saudi Aramco, will also collaborate with Nvidia to develop AI infrastructure in the country. Saudi Arabia, an oil-rich nation, is seeking to diversify its economy, which still relies heavily on crude exports. The kingdom aims to attract $100 billion in foreign direct investment annually, as outlined under its Vision 2030 strategy. According to a Bloomberg report, the Trump administration is also considering a deal with the UAE, which would permit the import of over one million advanced Nvidia chips -- well above the export limits imposed under the Biden administration. Other major US tech firms, including AMD, Global AI, Amazon, Cisco, and OpenAI, also announced AI investment plans in Saudi Arabia during the event. Trump's Middle East trip is shaping up to be a major win for US AI chipmakers, as the president looks to ease export curbs to China. On the same day, the US Department of Commerce (DOC) announced that it is rescinding the AI diffusion rule imposed during former President Joe Biden's administration, which had been due to take effect on 15 May. Biden's administration had implemented fresh restrictions on AI chip exports to China in January, its final month in office, expanding controls to much of the world, amid concerns that China was accessing US AI chips via third countries. Both Saudi Arabia and the UAE had also been subject to those restrictions. "The Trump administration will pursue a bold, inclusive strategy to advance American AI technology with trusted foreign partners, while keeping the technology out of the hands of our adversaries. At the same time, we reject the Biden administration's attempt to impose its own ill-conceived and counterproductive AI policies on the American people," stated the DOC. The department added that the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued new guidance to strengthen controls over overseas exports of AI chips to limit China's access to advanced US technologies.

Saudi AI sector big winner in US visit as Nvidia, AMD to ship chips

Jensen Huang, founder and CEO, Nvidia, who was in Saudi Arabia as part of the US visit. Image: Nvidia Semiconductor companies Nvidia and AMD announce plans to export their AI chips to Saudi Arabia as Trump lifts export restrictions to the region. While the US administration restricts US chips companies' ability to export advanced AI chips to China, there is apparently no such limitation on Saudi Arabia as Donald Trump's administration has removed restrictions on exports of advanced technology to the region. Nvidia and AMD both announced yesterday plans to ship thousands of AI chips to the region via a deal with new AI company Humain for a huge data centre initiative. Humain has just been launched, with a shiny new website, and is a company of the Kingdom's PIF (Public Investment Fund). "The US-Saudi AI chip deal could be a real game changer, accelerating the Gulf's push to become a major global player in AI and data infrastructure," said Stephen Deadmon, associate partner at global consultancy group Sia. "With access to cutting-edge chips from the likes of Nvidia and AMD, Saudi Arabia is positioning itself as a digital bridge between Asia, Africa and Europe." "For Europe, it raises some big questions. As core technologies like data storage, AI training and cloud services start moving to a region with lighter-touch regulation and very different governance priorities, Europe's digital sovereignty could be at risk." Deadmon says the deal also highlights just how far apart the US and Europe are drifting with regards to AI policy. "While the EU remains focused on ethics, safety and strict data rules, Washington seems more inclined to strike fast, strategic deals. If Gulf nations become preferred destinations for global AI compute and data hosting, Europe risks falling behind in shaping global AI norms, particularly if "data embassies" in the region enable regulatory arbitrage that bypasses European privacy and cybersecurity principles." Humain, effectively a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, is making a major investment to build AI factories in Saudi Arabia with a projected capacity of up to 500 megawatts powered by several hundred thousand of Nvidia's most advanced GPUs over the next five years, according to a statement from Nvidia. The first phase of deployment will be an 18,000 Nvidia GB300 Grace Blackwell AI supercomputer with Nvidia InfiniBand networking. Nvidia says Humain will deploy the country's first Nvidia Omniverse Cloud to simulate and test physical AI solutions with digital twins. Nvidia will also " train thousands of developers with the skills to solve complex challenges with accelerated computing and AI". AMD said The AI superstructure built by AMD and Humain would be "open by design, accessible at scale, and optimized to power AI workloads across enterprise, start-up and sovereign markets". "Humain will oversee end-to-end delivery, including hyperscale data center, sustainable power systems, and global fibre interconnects, and AMD will provide the full spectrum of the AMD AI compute portfolio and the AMD ROCm™ open software ecosystem," it said in a statement. "Our investment with Humain is a significant milestone in advancing global AI infrastructure," said Dr Lisa Su, chair and CEO, AMD. We can expect to see more such announcements while Trump is in the Middle East. It had been widely signposted that his current trip to the region was less about diplomacy and peace talks, and all about business. It is notable that his first official trip overseas as president this time round was not to old allies in Europe but the Middle East, marking again a major shift in the global world order under the current US leader. Don't miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic's digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.

Nvidia, AMD and Amazon to cash in on Saudi Arabia's AI hub ambitions - SiliconANGLE

Nvidia, AMD and Amazon to cash in on Saudi Arabia's AI hub ambitions Chipmakers Nvidia Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. said today they've been given the green light to ship thousands of powerful semiconductors to Saudi Arabia, as part of a deal brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump. The chips are destined for data centers that will be operated by a company called Humain, which is a new entity backed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang announced his company's deal on stage at the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum taking place in Riyadh today. His appearance came as Trump visited the country to meet with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (pictured). Representatives of AMD also appeared at the event, saying the company intends to provide thousands of its own chips and software for Humain's data centers. Humain, which was launched on Monday, is planning to become an artificial intelligence hub for the Middle East region, and to do that it needs to build dozens of data centers, hence the need for Nvidia's and AMD's advanced chips. The deals were made possible after the Trump administration lifted restrictions on the export of more sophisticated semiconductors to Saudi Arabia. Aside from building AI infrastructure, Humain will also develop Arabic versions of large language models to serve as the foundation for new generative AI applications. Humain CEO Tareq Amin said the company hopes to build 1.9 gigawatts of data centers by 2030. Shares of Nvidia rose more than 6% as the market reacted to the deal. The company's stock had been down more than 8% in the year to date. AMD's stock was also up, rising almost 5%. The chipmakers are trying to expand their customer bases for AI accelerators, which power the vast majority of AI models in the world today. At present, the bulk of their graphics processing units are snapped up by a relatively small group of data center operators, including Amazon Web Services Inc., Microsoft Corp., Google LLC and Oracle Corp. Nvidia said Humain is looking to build a number of "AI factories" that will span the Middle East region, with a projected capacity of up to 500 megawatts per facility. It will acquire "several hundred thousand" Nvidia processors over the next five years, with the first shipment involving 18,000 of its most powerful GB300 Grace Blackwell chips, as well as Nvidia's InfiniBand networking technology. "Together with Humain, we are building AI infrastructure for the people and companies of Saudi Arabia to realize the bold vision of the Kingdom," Huang said at the event. The initiative is part of Crown Prince Mohammed's long-term vision to transform Saudi Arabia into a technology hub as he attempts to shift its economy away from its dependence on oil revenues. The country has already attracted significant investment from U.S. tech firms after mandating that the personal and financial data of its citizens is stored locally. Last year, AWS announced plans to invest $10 billion on Saudi-based data centers, while Google and Oracle also plan to expand their presence in the country. AMD remains in a distant second place to Nvidia in terms of AI accelerator sales, but it seems to have found a big customer in Humain. In a separate announcement, it said the two parties will invest up to $10 billion to build 500 megawatts of AI compute capacity in Saudi Arabia, as part of an "AI superstructure". Meanwhile, AWS was also present at the event, saying it plans to work with Humain to invest "$5 billion-plus" in a new "AI Zone" in the country. That's in addition to a separate $5.3 billion investment to build a new AWS region that will come online in 2026. The AI Zone will be made up of dedicated AI infrastructure, including servers and networks, and will cater to Saudi Arabian companies including Humain, which has made a commitment to use AWS's technologies. Also today, the Trump administration is said to be considering a separate deal that would allow the United Arab Emirates to acquire more than one million of Nvidia's most advanced chips. Bloomberg cited people with knowledge of the matter as saying the terms of the agreement are still under discussion, and could see the UAE import 500,000 chips per year until 2027. Around a fifth of the chips would be destined to the Abu Dhabi-based AI firm G42, with the remainder going to U.S. firms looking to build data centers in the country. OpenAI could be one of those companies, the report added.

Nvidia and Other AI Stocks Climb as Saudi Deals Raise Expectations of More to Come

Wedbush analysts said the deals announced Tuesday, which will see Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) supply semiconductors to Saudi AI startup Humain, is "just the beginning" for AI-driven partnerships in the Middle East. "We expect bigger AI deals on the horizon," potentially involving companies such as Palantir (PLTR) or Tesla (TSLA), the analysts said. The Saudi AI investment could also help offset the impact of restrictions on sales of AI chips to China, Bank of America analysts said. Nvidia warned last month it could take a $5.5 billion charge related to limits on exports of its H20 chip, while AMD warned it would face an $800 million hit. Nvidia shares were up close to 4% in recent trading, while AMD added more than 5%. Shares of Super Micro Computer (SMCI), an AI server maker partnered with both companies, rocketed higher for the second day in a row after announcing its own Saudi deal. Meanwhile, Palantir ticked up 1% a day after hitting a record high, and Tesla gained 3%.

Nvidia and AMD shares jump, leaving DeepSeek impact behind; here's what happened and what investors should know

Nvidia and AMD stocks surged after landing major AI chip deals with Saudi Arabia's Humain, a subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund. The multibillion-dollar agreements aim to supply advanced processors for massive AI data centers, part of a $10 billion investment plan. AMD also announced a $6 billion stock buyback, boosting investor confidence. With growing demand shifting from China to the Middle East, and sovereign AI projects expected to generate $50 billion yearly, this marks a strong comeback after earlier losses. Nvidia and AMD stocks surge after major AI deals in Middle East boost investor confidence- Nvidia and AMD shares saw a strong rally on May 14, 2025, as investors responded positively to new developments in the global AI landscape. The gains were driven by fresh billion-dollar partnerships in the Middle East, a major stock buyback plan from AMD, and rising demand for AI chips outside China. Together, these factors signaled a potential long-term growth path for U.S. chipmakers that had been under pressure earlier this year. According to Reuters, Nvidia and AMD are now part of a strategic push by Saudi Arabia to become a major hub for artificial intelligence development. The news sent AMD stock up 6.4%, while Nvidia also posted solid gains as investors showed renewed confidence. One of the biggest drivers behind the stock surge was the announcement of a strategic deal with Humain, the artificial intelligence arm of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF). Both Nvidia and AMD will supply hundreds of thousands of AI chips over the next five years to help power large-scale data centers in the region. The planned data centers will support up to 500 megawatts of computing power -- part of a much broader $10 billion AI investment across Saudi Arabia and the United States. These centers are expected to handle complex AI workloads, from model training to real-time applications in areas like healthcare, defense, and finance. The partnerships were first reported by Barron's and Investor's Business Daily, confirming that the chipmakers are now aligning themselves with sovereign-backed AI growth projects, which could become a steady source of demand. In addition to the Middle East deals, AMD announced a new $6 billion stock buyback program, which adds to its existing $4 billion repurchase authorization. That brings the total buyback authority to $10 billion. According to Reuters and Barron's, this move reflects AMD's confidence in its financial health and future growth. By buying back its own shares, AMD aims to return value to shareholders and reduce the number of shares in circulation -- often a signal that the company sees its stock as undervalued. The buyback helped fuel AMD's 6.4% stock jump on May 14, reinforcing the idea that the market sees this as a sign of strength and long-term planning. Another key factor driving the rally is a growing shift in global demand for AI chips. The U.S. government is reportedly considering allowing the United Arab Emirates to import more than 1 million Nvidia chips, a development that highlights how geopolitical focus is moving away from China. Previously, U.S. chipmakers like Nvidia relied heavily on Chinese customers. But trade restrictions and rising tensions have made that market less reliable. Now, as Middle Eastern countries increase investment in AI infrastructure, companies like Nvidia and AMD are seeing new demand emerge in geopolitically safer regions. This trend, reported by Investor's Business Daily, points to a strategic diversification that could help reduce exposure to international risks. It's important to remember that earlier this year, both Nvidia and AMD took a big hit when reports emerged that Chinese AI lab DeepSeek had developed models that matched or exceeded U.S. capabilities -- at a fraction of the cost. That news triggered a sharp sell-off. Nvidia's stock dropped 17% in one day, wiping out about $600 billion in market value, according to Yahoo Finance and CBS News. AMD also felt the pressure as concerns about global competition grew. Now, the recent rebound marks a potential recovery from that slump. New deals, expanded markets, and corporate strategies like buybacks are reshaping investor expectations. According to analysts quoted by Barron's, sovereign-backed AI projects like Saudi Arabia's Humain initiative could represent a $50 billion annual global market in the coming years. This suggests that the current deals may only be the beginning of a longer-term opportunity. As more countries build national AI capabilities, companies like Nvidia and AMD are positioning themselves as key suppliers. Their chips are essential for training large AI models, managing huge datasets, and running next-gen applications in real time. The recent stock surge shows that investors are taking notice of this shift -- and betting on the continued expansion of AI infrastructure on a global scale. Q1: Why did Nvidia and AMD stock rise suddenly? They gained after announcing big AI chip deals with Saudi Arabia and AMD's $6 billion buyback plan. Q2: What is Humain's role in the AI chip market? Humain, backed by Saudi Arabia's PIF, is building massive AI data centers powered by chips from Nvidia and AMD.

Trump's AI power play: Deep dive into US-Middle East deals

The deals signed during US President Donald Trump's visit to the Middle East go beyond just exporting technology -- they aim at bringing Gulf investment into US-based AI infrastructure. It marks a shift that ties the Middle East closer to US tech and strengthens US influence in the region.During his recent visit to the Middle East, US President Donald Trump secured a series of major artificial intelligence (AI) partnerships, primarily with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). These agreements involve massive investments in AI chips, infrastructure, and joint projects with big names like Nvidia, AMD, Amazon, and Google. These deals are not just about exporting technology -- they also aim to bring Gulf investment into US-based AI infrastructure. This marks a shift that ties the Middle East closer to American tech and strengthens US influence in the region. The key deals Saudi Arabia Also Read: US tech firms Nvidia, AMD secure AI deals as Trump tours Gulf states United Arab Emirates (UAE) Also Read: Deals take centre stage in Trump's Gulf visit: $80 bn tech push, $20 bn AI data centres & more What this means for the US These deals reflect a major policy shift. By bypassing older export restrictions around AI, the US is unlocking trillions of dollars in global capital for AI infrastructure. This inflow helps: Europe could have played a bigger role in supporting AI build-outs, but slow approvals and power shortages have made the Gulf a more attractive option, according to Semianalysis. Gulf countries aren't just buyers -- they're now investing heavily in US-based AI infrastructure too. Risk concerns However, senior administration officials in the US are flagging two main concerns: This tour comes at a politically tricky time for Trump, as he faces low approval ratings at home. The Middle East trip shifts attention away from domestic issues like deportations and tariff policies -- and distances him from long-standing criticisms about his personal business ties in the region. However, these AI deals could reshape global tech alliances, making the Gulf a central hub in the AI race, while reinforcing America's leadership in the field. Also Read: Sam Altman calls critics of Trump's UAE AI deals 'naive'

US tech firms Nvidia, AMD secure AI deals as Trump tours Gulf states

US tech giants, including Nvidia, AMD, and Qualcomm, announced major AI deals in the Middle East during President Trump's Gulf tour, securing $600 billion in commitments. Saudi-backed startup Humain will deploy massive AI infrastructure. The US and Saudi Arabia aim to co-lead global AI innovation and economic transformation.A number of US technology firms on Tuesday announced artificial intelligence deals in the Middle East as US President Donald Trump secured $600 billion in commitments from Saudi Arabia to U.S. companies during a tour of Gulf states. Among the biggest deals, Nvidia said it will sell hundreds of thousands of AI chips in Saudi Arabia, with a first tranche of 18,000 of its newest "Blackwell" chips going to Humain, an AI startup just launched by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund. Chip designer Advanced Micro Devices also announced a deal with Humain, saying it has formed a $10 billion collaboration. Another company to announce a deal with Humain, was Qualcomm Inc, which said it signed a memo of understanding to develop and build a data centre central processor (CPU). The San Diego-based chip designer bought server CPU maker Nuvia in 2021 but has not yet released a product. Trump began his Gulf tour on Tuesday, kicking it off with the signing of a strategic economic agreement with Saudi Arabia as the oil power rolled out the red carpet. Trump's Middle East visit aims to drum up trillions of dollars in investments. The deals will flow both ways. The White House said Saudi Arabian firm DataVolt will invest $20 billion in AI data centres and energy infrastructure in the United States. Alphabet's Google, DataVolt, Oracle Corp, Salesforce Inc, Advanced Micro Devices and Uber will invest $80 billion in cutting-edge transformative technologies in both countries, the White House said, without giving details. Trump plans to visit the UAE on Thursday. The New York Times on Monday reported that the Trump administration is nearing a deal to allow UAE to buy large volumes of Nvidia's AI chips. Saudi Arabia, which is seeking to make its economy less dependent on oil revenue, aims to position itself as a hub for AI and a leading centre for AI activity outside the United States. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday launched Humain to develop and manage AI technologies in Saudi Arabia. AI chip deals Nvidia and Humain said they will leverage Nvidia's platforms to establish Saudi Arabia as a global leader in AI, GPU cloud computing and digital transformation. In a joint statement, the two companies said they will build AI factories with up to 500 megawatts of capacity that will include "several hundred thousand" of Nvidia's most advanced GPUs over five years. In Humain's deal with AMD, the agreement includes a plan to invest up to $10 billion to deploy 500 megawatts of AI hardware infrastructure over five years. The Humain-AMD deal, in addition to hardware purchases, involves a collaboration that aims to help Humain implement a next-generation AI cloud computing platform, according to Keith Strier, AMD senior vice president of global AI markets. "Together, we are building a globally significant AI platform that delivers performance, openness and reach at unprecedented levels," AMD CEO Lisa Su said in a statement. With some capacity set to come online in 2026, Humain will oversee the delivery of the data-crunching power to potential customers, while AMD will provide CPUs, GPUs and its software that helps orchestrate the data crunching. Part of the rationale for closing a deal with AMD is to ensure Humain isn't locked into using a single vendor for AI-related hardware, Strier said. "And now, in addition to building infrastructure, countries recognize they need to do it in a very resilient way, in these diverse ways," Strier said. Chaired by bin Salman, Saudi Arabia's de facto leader, Humain will operate under the Public Investment Fund and will offer AI services and products, including data centres, AI infrastructure, cloud capabilities and advanced AI models. "In building an AI company, you need the foundation and the infrastructure," Humain CEO Tareq Amin said on stage from Riyadh on Tuesday. "It's a really, really big initiative for the kingdom."

Trump's Middle East visit opens floodgate of AI deals led by Nvidia

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is clearing a path for two key Persian Gulf allies to pursue their artificial intelligence ambitions -- and some of the biggest U.S. tech companies are seizing on that opening with plans to spend billions of dollars in the region. Under agreements with the U.S. expected to be unveiled in coming days, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are poised to win wider access to advanced AI chips from Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices that are considered the gold standard for running AI models. The deals are taking shape while President Donald Trump visits the Middle East seeking to forge deeper business ties that put U.S. technology initiatives at center stage. Even before any formal announcement of accords between the U.S. and its partners, news began to emerge of American companies readying expanded projects in the region.

'Bullish For Nvidia, Tesla, Palantir, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon:' AI 'Revolution Is Coming' To The Saudi Kingdom, Says Wedbush's Dan Ives - Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG), Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives praised the upcoming 'AI Revolution' in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East after the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum on Tuesday, which saw a slew of announcements on the artificial intelligence front. What Happened: The Jensen Huang-led chipmaker announced a new agreement to supply 18,000 GB300 Blackwell chips to Saudi-based AI startup Humain, backed by the nation's sovereign wealth fund. Ives said in a series of X posts that "the AI Revolution is coming to the Saudi Kingdom and Riyadh will be a major buyer of AI chips, software, autonomous/robotics, datacenters over the next decade." He also added that this move will be bullish for firms like, Nvidia, Tesla Inc. TSLA, Palantir Technologies Inc. PLTR, Microsoft Corp. MSFT, Alphabet Inc. GOOG GOOGL and Amazon.com Inc. AMZN. "Bullish for Nvidia, Tesla, Palantir, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon. Just starting," he added. He added that this was a part of President Donald Trump's administration's "global game of high stakes poker". He highlighted the curbs on China to acquire Nvidia's chips and how the U.S. was steering toward giving Saudi Arabia to supply its next generation chips. "This is all part of a regional focus in the Middle East building out datacenters and the AI Revolution which will start to vault UAE, Saudi, Qatar to the priority list for US tech companies. Adds major TAM to AI Revolution," he said. See Also: Warren Buffett Shows How Patience Pays: 98% Of His $160 Billion Wealth Came After Turning 65, Thanks The Power Of 'Compound Interest' Why It Matters: Following a dip to $83 billion in the first week of April, shortly after the "Liberation Day" tariffs, Huang's net worth has since experienced a significant rebound. By the end of Tuesday, it had surged by 37% from that low point, reaching just under $120 billion. - Get StartedStart Futures Trading Fast -- with a $200 Bonus Join Plus500 today and get up to $200 to start trading real futures. Practice with free paper trading, then jump into live markets with lightning-fast execution, low commissions, and full regulatory protection. Get Started Also, Nvidia's recent stock rally has driven the company back into the $3 trillion market cap club. Meanwhile, Trump also appreciated Huang at the Forum and said, "I see my friend is here, Jensen. [Apple Inc. CEO] Tim Cook isn't here, but you are." "What a job you've done. He's got 99% of the chip market. That's not easy to beat," he added. "Thank you for the investment. We are proud to have you in our country," Trump told Huang. Price Action: Shares of Nvidia rose 5.63% on Tuesday and were up 2.61% on Wednesday in pre-market trading. However, the stock was down 6.06% on a year-to-date basis and up 42.22% over a year. Benzinga Edge Stock Rankings shows that NVDA had a stronger price trend over the short, medium, and long term. Its momentum ranking was solid at 82.75th percentile, whereas its value ranking was poor at 6.65th percentile; the details of other metrics are available here. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF QQQ, which track the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, were higher in premarket on Wednesday. The SPY was up 0.16% to $587.79, while the QQQ advanced 0.33% to $517.30, according to Benzinga Pro data. Read Next: Kevin O'Leary Lauds Robinhood's Acquisition Of WonderFi Will 'Transform Cross-Border Trading:' 'No More Outrageous Bank Fees' Image Via Shutterstock AMZNAmazon.com Inc$211.850.23%Stock Score Locked: Want to See it? Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Reveal Full ScoreEdge RankingsMomentum72.08Growth91.46Quality65.55Value49.17Price TrendShortMediumLongOverviewGOOGAlphabet Inc$161.890.62%GOOGLAlphabet Inc$160.540.63%MSFTMicrosoft Corp$447.77-0.31%PLTRPalantir Technologies Inc$129.581.16%QQQInvesco QQQ Trust, Series 1$517.620.39%SPYSPDR S&P 500$588.020.20%TSLATesla Inc$342.252.45%Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Nvidia, Amazon, Tesla, Palantir Among Top Beneficiaries Of $1 Trillion Saudi Arabia AI Push, Analyst Says - Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD), Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Tuesday was a bullish eye-opener for investors in U.S. tech stocks, as it's becoming crystal clear that the AI Revolution has found its next major area of penetration: Saudi Arabia, Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives said. Joining President Trump and his team of advisors on this key trip to the Middle East starting at the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum he was joined by titans of the tech world including Nvidia Corp's NVDA Godfather of AI Jensen, Elon Musk, Amazon.Com Inc's AMZN Andy Jassy, Palantir Technologies Inc's PLTR Alex Karp, Alphabet Inc's GOOG GOOGL Ruth Porat, International Business Machines Corp's IBM Arvind Krishna, OpenAI's Sam Altman, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc's AMD Lisa Su, among other prominent tech leaders. The theme was clear in Riyadh: the AI Revolution is coming to the Saudi Kingdom, and Riyadh will be a major buyer of AI chips, software, autonomous robotics, and data centers over the next decade. Also Read: AMD Stock Pops On $6 Billion Buyback Plan, U.S. Tariff Ease Coming off a major US and China trade deal this weekend in Switzerland, which was a "dream scenario" for the markets and bullish tech investors, the tone in Riyadh has been about the bright green light on the massive AI buildout in Saudi, and this could open up a vast opportunity and TAM for Nvidia, Palantir, Microsoft Corp MSFT, Amazon, Alphabet, Tesla Inc TSLA and many other well-positioned chip/software names over the coming years. Ives noted that the market opportunity in Saudi Arabia could add another $1 trillion to the broader global AI market in the coming years, and this dynamic is not being priced into the market and tech names. Trump granted the Crown Prince's new AI company, Humain (PIF AI subsidiary), a major strategic partnership with Nvidia in which Jensen & Co. will sell 18,000 next-generation Blackwell chips in the first deployment to power a Saudi supercomputer. Over the next five years, Saudi Arabia will construct major data centers to train and deploy the Kingdom's sovereign AI models. This technology innovation is part of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 initiative to move away from dependence and focus on technology and other strategic initiatives. This is all part of a regional focus in the Middle East on building out data centers and the AI Revolution, which will start to vault UAE, Saudi, and Qatar to the priority list for U.S. tech companies. It also speaks to this global game of high-stakes poker being played by the Trump Administration, as while China is getting restrictions from Nvidia's older H20 chip slowing down the AI buildout in Beijing, on the contrary, Ives noted Saudi getting the best Nvidia next-generation chips with a red carpet rollout from the rest of the Big Tech world. China is taking notice, which will add to the drama of the broader U.S.-China tariff talks over the coming months. This Saudi development is a significant trend to focus on over the coming months. As per the analyst, the AI theme is a bullish indicator that further shows the U.S. tech's lead in this fourth Industrial Revolution. He stated that there is one chip fueling this generational spending: the Godfather of AI, Jensen and Nvidia. This will be just the beginning as tech players like the hyperscalers, Palantir, Tesla, and others see the game-changing AI market opportunity in the Middle East. Ives expects bigger AI deals on the horizon, Ives added. Read Next: Taiwan Semiconductor Commits $15 Billion To Chip Expansion, Approves Dividend Photo by AKOBCHUK V via Shuttesrtock AMDAdvanced Micro Devices Inc$117.284.28%Stock Score Locked: Want to See it? Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Reveal Full ScoreEdge RankingsMomentum21.39Growth82.74Quality69.12Value16.37Price TrendShortMediumLongOverviewAMZNAmazon.com Inc$209.74-0.77%GOOGAlphabet Inc$166.503.49%GOOGLAlphabet Inc$165.153.52%IBMInternational Business Machines Corp$257.31-0.49%MSFTMicrosoft Corp$451.070.43%NVDANVIDIA Corp$135.294.13%PLTRPalantir Technologies Inc$129.571.15%TSLATesla Inc$347.053.89%Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

NVIDIA Partners With A Saudi PIF Subsidiary To Build AI Factories With "Several Hundred Thousand Of NVIDIA's Most Advanced GPUs"

This is not investment advice. The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Wccftech.com has a disclosure and ethics policy. Now that the trade war 2.0 has seemingly fizzled, and the Biden-era AI diffusion rules are on their way out, much of the overhang surrounding NVIDIA shares in recent weeks and months has evaporated, leaving prospects for unbridled growth in its wake. Today, we've received the first inkling as to this oncoming explosive growth phase, courtesy of an agreement between NVIDIA and HUMAIN the AI-focused subsidiary of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF). To wit, HUMAIN has now partnered with NVIDIA to "establish Saudi Arabia as a global leader in AI, GPU cloud computing and digital transformation to drive innovation and growth worldwide." Under the proposed framework, HUMAIN will build AI factories in Saudi Arabia "with a projected capacity of up to 500 megawatts powered by several hundred thousand of NVIDIA's most advanced GPUs over the next five years." In the first phase, HUMAIN will deploy 18,000 GB300 GPUs, replete with NVIDIA InfiniBand networking. Additionally, HUMAIN will leverage NVIDIA's Omniverse platform for physical AI and robotics to turbo-charge the Kingdom's pivot towards the ongoing industrial revolution 4.0. Finally, NVIDIA will collaborate with HUMAIN to train and upskill Saudi citizens, equipping them with hands-on experience in advanced AI, simulation, robotics and digital twin technologies. This development comes as the market is largely pivoting away from the trade war-induced fears. For the benefit of those who might not be aware, the US and China agreed to lower their tariffs on each other's imported goods by 115 percent over the weekend. This means that Chinese imports to the US will be subjected to a 30 percent tariff, while American imports to China will be charged a 10 percent levy. This regime will persist for 90 days as both sides work toward a comprehensive agreement. For the benefit of those who might not be aware, NVIDIA was caught right in the middle of the US-China trade war when the Trump administration imposed licensing requirements on its China-focused H20 GPU. To mitigate the fallout, NVIDIA is reportedly working on a more stripped-down version of the H20 that would presumably evade these new licensing requirements. Also, the upcoming tweaks by the Trump administration to the Biden-era AI diffusion rules also look likely to benefit NVIDIA, with the tiered system expected to be sidelined in favor of trying to restrict Huawei's Ascend AI accelerators, which have emerged as a capable alternative to NVIDIA's GPUs in China.

Nvidia and Amazon Land Middle Eastern AI Deals Amid Trump Visit | PYMNTS.com

American tech giants are reportedly upping their Gulf State investments amid President Trump's visit to the region. The Trump administration has brokered deals for two Middle Eastern allies -- Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) -- to bolster their artificial intelligence (AI) efforts, Bloomberg news reported Tuesday (May 13). New agreements with the U.S., expected to be announced in the days ahead, will give the two countries more access to AI chips from Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices, the report said. But even before any official announcement of deals between the U.S. and its partners, reports began to surface of American firms preparing new projects in the region, Bloomberg added. For example, Nvidia is set to supply its most advanced artificial intelligence-related chips to Saudi Arabia's Humain, a company started to advance the country's AI infrastructure efforts. Under this agreement, Humain will get "several hundred thousand" of Nvidia's most advanced processors over the next five years. Humain and Amazon are also investing upwards of $5 billion on an "AI zone" in Saudi Arabia, the report added. The project will use tech from the Amazon Web Services cloud business to develop a marketplace of AI agents for use by the Saudi government. In another proposed deal, OpenAI is mulling developing new data center capacity in the United Arab Emirates that could massively expand its footprint in the Middle East, according to sources familiar with the matter. This deal could be announced in time for Trump's UAE visit Thursday (May 15), Bloomberg said, noting that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is also in the Middle East as part of a larger tour by tech leaders. PYMNTS explored AI's potential to transform the Middle East in a report last year after Saudi Arabia established a $40 billion AI investment fund. "Successful AI development efforts could not only lead to a wave of local creativity and innovation such as new startups, and attracting generation of students to the field, but could spread the resulting prosperity across the region, countering local disbalances and democratizing the knowledge economy to attract the brightest minds," geopolitical analyst Irina Tsukerman said in an interview for that report. And projects like Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, boasting more than $900 billion in assets, is working to establish itself as a global AI leader, Bas Kooijman, CEO and asset manager at DHF Capital, said in an interview with PYMNTS.

These US Tech Giants Emerge as Big Winners in Saudi AI Investment Wave | Investing.com UK

Holding $925 billion assets under management, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) continues to accelerate the oil-rich country's push towards AI. As a sovereign wealth fund, PIF complements the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) government agency as well as having the Saudi Company for Artificial Intelligence (SCAI) as its AI arm. In turn, SCAI works in concert with major companies like Saudi Aramco (TADAWUL:2222) to build up an AI ecosystem. Following President Trump's state visit to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, all of these building blocks coalesced into a major announcement. Together with other tech firms, Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) formed a partnership with PIF's HUMAIN, another PIF subsidiary focused on AI. HUMAIN is tasked to build up a 500 MW worth of data centers/AI factories, featuring up to 18,000 Nvidia's cutting edge GB300 Blackwell chips in the first phase of development. Nvidia will also deploy up to 5,000 Blackwell chips under the guidance of SDAIA for smart city solutions. Aramco Digital, the subsidiary of Saudi Aramco formed in 2023, will also join in to erect AI enterprise platforms. "It marks a significant step toward positioning the Kingdom (TADAWUL:4280) as a leader among data- and AI-driven economies, and in building a knowledge-based society and an advanced digital economy aligned with the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030."H.E. Dr. Abdullah bin Sharaf Alghamdi, SDAIA's president. This announcement perfectly mirrors our previous coverage on the importance of AI for world's governments. Let's examine how these moves form a clear picture for future trends. At a superficial level, most people view AI as a content generator or a set of productivity tools. However, from early on, we insisted that this is AI's secondary role, one that is already heavily regulated. AI's primary role is to fortify governance systems. In November 2024, in exploring whether there is such a thing as an AI bubble, we noted that this is extremely unlikely. Foremost, there has never been such a tight coordination between power nodes to make AI happen, from the World Economic Forum (WEF) to the world's largest and most influential NGO, Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI). The former UK prime minister himself, Tony Blair, has a collaborative relationship with Larry Ellison, executive chairman of Oracle (NYSE:ORCL). Alongside gaining control of Paramount Global, Ellison took the public spotlight just after President Trump's inauguration to present the Stargate project at the White House. Akin to Saudi Arabia's AI push across its funds, agencies and companies, the $500 billion worth Stargate is another example of mature private-public partnerships (PPPs). Together with Palantir (NASDAQ:PLTR), the common thread for the AI push is one of evolved governance that blurs the line between corporate and political governance: Within global social media platforms, such as YouTube and TikTok, it is already clear that algorithmic interception is in full force as comments are routinely auto-removed or shadow-banned. Perhaps most importantly, AI can generate digital mirrors of physical states such as cities via IoT devices. Within these mirrors, control nodes can then run scenarios and deliver decisions to implement in the physical world. This is why Saudi Arabia's HUMAIN will use Nvidia Omniverse Cloud to run and test "physical AI solutions with digital twins." Scaling up economically within robotic platforms to automate physical processes, control nodes are then less vulnerable to communal resistance to policies. Traditionally aligned with the U.S. and Israel, and already tightly controlled as a monarchy, oil-producing Saudi Arabia makes the ideal pick for testing and expanding AI capacities. In the immediate investment phase following President Trump's visit to Riyadh, the reciprocal partnership is worth $600 billion across AI, healthcare, manufacturing, energy and military sales. Coinciding with President Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia, we extensively covered Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ:SMCI) as one of the beneficiaries of AI data center build up. Not surprisingly, Supermicro is also front and center in the Kingdom's efforts to become an AI hub. DataVolt, as Saudi's largest data center company, picked Supermicro to supply server solutions to hyperscale aforementioned AI factories in the Kingdom. The deal is valued at $20 billion, which is 73% of Supermicro's current market cap weight. Predictably, this pushed SMCI stock beyond analyst estimates, tracking a 40% value boost over the week. However, $20 billion is just a part of the $100 billion joint investment package, as Oracle, Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), AMD (NASDAQ:AMD) and Saleforce are set to contribute $80 billion. On the energy front, GE Vernova secured gas turbine and energy system deals worth $14.2 billion. US-based engineering companies AECOM, JAbovs, Parsons (NYSE:PSN), and Hill International tapped into $2 billion worth of export services by contributing to Saudi's The Vault, Qiddiya City and King Salman International Airport. In the aerospace sector, Boeing (NYSE:BA) is set to deliver $4.8 billion worth of 737-8 aircraft to Saudi's AviLease and a recent deal was announced with Qatar Airlines which according to US president Donald Trump was the largest one in the aerospace company's history. The biggest individual package, however, comes from Saudi's defense spending of up to $142 billion. All the major US companies will contribute to modernize the Kingdom's naval, coastal, space and military modernization. Given that US-led Big Tech is building up Saudi Arabia as a major AI hub, it would make sense that USG would protect these assets for the long haul. It is also indicative that the public-private partnership (PPP) model has moved beyond domestic formation into international waters. Lastly, $14 billion worth of Saudi capital will pour into US-based energy, aerospace and sports sectors from the three respective funds. *** Neither the author, Tim Fries, nor this website, The Tokenist, provide financial advice. Please consult our website policy prior to making financial decisions.

How big is the sovereign AI opportunity? By Investing.com

Investing.com -- Tech stocks have rallied sharply on the back of renewed enthusiasm around recent sovereign AI deals between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. UBS strategists see sovereign and enterprise AI customers as a rising force in global AI investment, positioning the segment as the second-largest contributor to capital expenditure (capex) in the field. The bank estimates sovereign and enterprise AI will account for 17% of global AI capex in 2025, highlighting the accelerating push among governments to build domestic AI infrastructure. "Major regions across the world have realized the potential of AI and plan to build their own infrastructure to ensure their spending will not only enhance productivity or drive innovation, but also allow them to retain control over data and security," said UBS strategists led by Sundeep Gantor. They forecast global AI capex to grow 60% year-on-year to $360 billion in 2025 and a further 33% to $480 billion in 2026. Sovereign demand is viewed as a structural growth driver, with spending spanning AI compute, high-bandwidth memory (HBM), networking, and industrial infrastructure such as cooling and power. Saudi Arabia's latest AI compute-related deals were cited as an example of sovereign-led activity picking up pace. These deals, along with other regional announcements over the past year, are "an underappreciated opportunity," the strategists wrote in a report. They also note that while the Big 4 -- Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), and Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) -- still dominate overall AI spend, their share is projected to fall from 58% in 2025 to 52% in 2026, as new players like sovereign and enterprise buyers take on a greater role. Investors who stayed exposed to leading AI names have seen a 24% rebound since the April lows, and UBS sees further room for upside. "While uncertainty is still abound, we now see upside to our 12% EPS growth forecast for global tech given strong underlying AI fundamentals and easing trade-related uncertainties," the report continues. However, the outlook is not without risks. UBS flags potential tariff headwinds, cost pressures from supply chain shifts, and disruption from generative AI applications. Even so, UBS remains constructive, arguing that "strong AI fundamentals and lessons from history suggest the recovery can last longer." The bank continues to recommend an "offensively defensive" stance, favoring a blend of cyclical semiconductor names and more stable software and internet firms.

Trump's Middle East trip a boon for NVIDIA By Investing.com

Investing.com -- NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang has accompanied U.S. President Donald Trump during his trip to the Middle East, and so far, the trip appears to be paying off big time for the AI chip giant. Shares of NVIDIA are up 5.5% shortly after the noon hour on Wall Street. First in Saudi Arabia, where Trump is speaking today, NVIDIA announced an agreement with HUMAIN, the new full AI value chain subsidiary of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. Through this collaboration, HUMAIN will leverage NVIDIA's advanced platforms to build AI factories with up to 500 megawatts of capacity powered by hundreds of thousands of NVIDIA GPUs over five years. The initiative, starting with an 18,000-unit Grace Blackwell GB300 supercomputer, aims to establish secure, hyperscale AI infrastructure to drive innovation, digital transformation, and the development of sovereign AI models across Saudi Arabia and beyond. Elsewhere, Bloomberg News reported Tuesday afternoon that the Trump administration is weighing allowing the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to import more than a million advanced NVIDIA chips. The ongoing negotiations could result in the UAE importing up to 500,000 cutting-edge chips annually from the present year until 2027. One-fifth of these chips are intended for the Abu Dhabi-based artificial intelligence company G42. The rest of the chips would be supplied to American firms that are developing data centers within the Gulf nation. One such American company that may benefit from this deal is OpenAI. OpenAI is reportedly preparing to announce the expansion of its data center operations in the UAE. G42 could acquire computing power comparable to that of 1 to 1.5 million of Nvidia's top-tier H100 chips over the lifetime of the deal, the report added. President Trump praised Huang during today's Saudi speech. "We are proud to have you in our country," Trump said after touting NVIDIA's $500 billion investment in the U.S.

NVIDIA, Saudi Arabia partner for AI and digital infrastructure By Investing.com

RIYADH - NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA), the semiconductor giant with a market capitalization of $3.17 trillion and impressive revenue growth of 114% year-over-year, has entered into partnerships with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia aimed at transforming the country into a leading hub for artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, digital twins, and robotics. This collaboration was announced today during a state visit by U.S. President Donald Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. According to InvestingPro data, NVIDIA maintains a perfect Piotroski Score of 9, indicating exceptional financial strength and operational efficiency. The initiative is set to leverage sovereign AI infrastructure and expertise to elevate Saudi Arabia among global hyperscale AI leaders. NVIDIA's founder and CEO, Jensen Huang, emphasized that AI is a crucial infrastructure for nations, akin to electricity and the internet. As a prominent player in the Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment industry with an industry-leading gross profit margin of 75%, NVIDIA is well-positioned to deliver on these ambitious plans. For detailed analysis of NVIDIA's market position and growth potential, investors can access comprehensive research through InvestingPro, which offers exclusive insights and financial metrics for over 1,400 US stocks. The partnership with HUMAIN, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund focused on AI, involves a significant investment to construct AI factories in the country. These factories are projected to have a capacity of up to 500 megawatts, powered by several hundred thousand of NVIDIA's advanced GPUs within the next five years. The first phase of deployment will include an 18,000 NVIDIA GB300 Grace Blackwell AI supercomputer, along with NVIDIA InfiniBand networking. Additionally, HUMAIN will implement the country's first NVIDIA Omniverse Cloud to simulate and test AI solutions using digital twins. NVIDIA will also contribute to enhancing the nation's computing ecosystem by training thousands of developers to tackle complex challenges through accelerated computing and AI. In collaboration with the Saudi Data & AI Authority (SDAIA), up to 5,000 Blackwell GPUs will be deployed for a sovereign AI factory to enable smart city solutions. The partnership will also focus on training government and university scientists and engineers in model development and deployment for physical and agentic AI. Aramco Digital plans to establish AI computing infrastructure, work with NVIDIA's startup ecosystem, set up AI enterprise platforms, and create an engineering and robotics center of excellence incorporating NVIDIA platforms. These initiatives are expected to aid industries such as energy, manufacturing, and logistics in developing and deploying innovative AI and digital twin solutions to drive regional growth and prosperity, while enhancing efficiency, safety, and sustainability. The efforts align with Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 goals of economic diversification and establishing a digital leadership position. This information is based on a press release statement from NVIDIA. In other recent news, NVIDIA has announced a strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia's HUMAIN, a subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund, to advance AI development in the region. This collaboration aims to build AI factories and hyperscale data centers using NVIDIA's GPUs, aligning with Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 for digital transformation and economic diversification. Additionally, UBS has adjusted NVIDIA's price target to $175, down from $180, while maintaining a Buy rating. The analyst from UBS anticipates that NVIDIA's revenue for the first fiscal quarter will slightly exceed the $43 billion guidance, despite challenges like the H20 ban. DA Davidson has reiterated a Neutral rating on NVIDIA with a steady price target of $120, highlighting the importance of analyzing the company's individual business segments amidst ongoing uncertainties with China. The firm emphasizes that geopolitical factors and sector-specific trends are influencing NVIDIA's performance. Furthermore, NVIDIA's partnership with HUMAIN includes deploying the NVIDIA Omniverse platform to enhance efficiency in sectors such as manufacturing and logistics through the creation of digital twins. The initiative also involves large-scale AI and robotics training for thousands of Saudi citizens, supporting the Kingdom's ambitions to lead in AI and digital infrastructure. Meanwhile, Wolfe Research has raised concerns about AI spending in 2026, despite a projected 35% increase in 2025, suggesting potential risks to future spending levels. These developments reflect NVIDIA's strategic positioning and ongoing challenges in the global tech landscape.

Wedbush's Ives sees AI boom in Middle East as turning point for U.S. tech giants By Investing.com

Investing.com -- Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence infrastructure in the Middle East marks a "watershed moment" for U.S. tech companies, driven by major developments in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. "It's becoming crystal clear the AI Revolution has found its next major area of penetration... the Middle East," Wedbush wrote in a note. The analyst highlighted the recent announcements in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi as signs of a new era of growth for U.S. tech giants such as Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Palantir (NASDAQ:PLTR), and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA). Wedbush notes that Saudi Arabia has committed to purchasing 18,000 Nvidia chips for a 500-megawatt data center being built by Humain. Meanwhile, the UAE has received support from President Trump to build "the largest AI data center outside the U.S." in Abu Dhabi. "We believe the market opportunity in Saudi Arabia and UAE alone could over time add another $1 trillion to the broader global AI market in the coming year," Wedbush said. The developments come amid a broader shift in U.S. trade policy. "No Nvidia chips for China... red carpet rollout for the Kingdom (TADAWUL:4280)," the firm wrote, contrasting Middle East expansion with chip export restrictions affecting Beijing. Ives called the momentum in the region "a bullish indicator that further shows the U.S. tech's lead in this 4th Industrial Revolution." He emphasized Nvidia's dominance, again referring to CEO Jensen Huang as "the Godfather of AI." Wedbush believes Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar are now on the "priority list" for U.S. tech, with regional demand for AI chips, software, robotics, and data centers expected to surge over the next decade.