At a high-profile White House dinner with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, former President Donald Trump hosted industry heavyweights — Elon Musk, Jensen Huang (Nvidia), and Marc Benioff (Salesforce) — signaling how central AI has become to the U.S.–Saudi economic alliance.
The very next day, major deals were announced: Musk’s xAI is partnering with Saudi-backed Humain and Nvidia to build a data center in Saudi Arabia, while Nvidia itself has committed significant GPU shipments to support Humain’s AI infrastructure. This underscores a broader push by Saudi Arabia to become a global AI hub.
Strategically, these agreements deepen U.S.–Saudi ties via technology as well as energy. Saudi Arabia is leveraging its vast power resources to support massive AI infrastructure, while U.S. tech firms gain access to capital and a rapidly growing market. Critics, however, warn this could carry geopolitical risks, especially around technology transfer and national security.
From Trump’s perspective, AI appears to be more than just business — it’s key to his economic vision. He’s betting that a tech-led boom, powered by foreign investment and U.S. leadership in AI, can drive long-term growth.
