Saudi-US Investment Forum yields billions in private deals, cementing tech and energy partnership

• Technology cooperation, including artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing, emerged as a central pillar of the evolving partnership
• Business leaders expressed optimism about expanding opportunities, viewing the partnership as a platform for growth in high-value sectors

WASHINGTON D.C. The economic momentum generated by the White House meeting between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and US President Donald Trump on Tuesday shifted swiftly to the US-Saudi Investment Forum at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

It was here on Wednesday that high-level government agreements announced in the Oval Office and at a White House gala dinner the previous evening were rapidly translated into concrete private sector deals worth billions.

The forum, hosted by the Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia under the theme “Leadership for Growth: Strengthening the Saudi-US Economic Partnership,” brought together senior government officials, investors, and CEOs from some of America’s most powerful firms.

Addressing the forum on Wednesday afternoon, the crown prince said the foundations had been laid for a stronger partnership between Saudi Arabia and the US and that further investment agreements in defense, energy, AI, and financial services could be expected.

In his own remarks, President Trump said that $270 billion in agreements and sales were being signed between dozens of companies. He praised the crown prince, calling him a bold leader who was committed to the Saudi-US relationship.

Trump also said he would start “working” on the war in Sudan after the crown prince asked him to help end the conflict, which has raged since April 2023 and took a darker turn in the past month following the fall of El-Fasher.

“His majesty would like me to do something very powerful having to do with Sudan. It was not on my charts to be involved in, I thought it was just something that was crazy and out of control,” Trump said.

“But I just see how important that is to you, and to a lot of your friends in the room, Sudan. And we’re going to start working on Sudan.”

Opening the forum on Wednesday morning, Saudi Minister of Investment Khalid Al-Falih emphasized the scale of Saudi-US cooperation, announcing the event would witness the launch of “groundbreaking business agreements worth hundreds of billions of dollars.”

“Yesterday, at the White House, we witnessed the signing of a set of strategic G2G agreements across several verticals, including defense, AI, the supply chains of minerals and critical metals, among others,” Al-Falih said.

He said the crown prince’s visit to Washington demonstrated “the strength of the Saudi-US partnership and our shared ambition.”

Al-Falih added that “an important step” was taken during Tuesday’s discussion regarding the “US-Saudi strategic framework on investment acceleration, a mechanism that supports timely investment approvals between our two countries.”

“Today, we will also witness, again, the launch of groundbreaking business agreements worth hundreds of billions of dollars, further underscoring the strength of our partnership and shared ambition.”

The investment minister emphasized that the US is the largest foreign investor in Saudi Arabia, “with one of every four dollars invested by international investors in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia coming from America.”

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who addressed the forum after Al-Falih, added that the newly finalized agreements “open the door for US companies to lead globally (in) innovation, in safety and in deployment.”

The event was designed to cement the economic dimensions of the alliance by aligning Saudi investment ambitions — particularly those driving the Vision 2030 transformation — with American innovation and technology.

It underscored the strategic importance of technology, particularly artificial intelligence, as a cornerstone of the new partnership.

Following the formal signing of the Strategic Artificial Intelligence Partnership between Saudi Foreign Affairs Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, both sides affirmed it as a historic step to advance innovation and technological progress.

This partnership is designed to leverage Saudi Arabia’s competitive advantages in available land, energy resources, and geographic location to build AI technology clusters serving local, regional, and global demand.

The collaboration encompasses the supply of advanced semiconductors, the development of advanced AI applications and infrastructure, and building national capabilities and expanding high-value investments.

The private sector immediately capitalized on this focus with major joint ventures. Advanced Micro Devices, Cisco Systems, and Saudi startup Humain announced the formation of a joint venture to build data centers in the Middle East.

This initiative will kick off with a 100-megawatt data center project in Saudi Arabia.

Humain CEO Tareq Amin confirmed that generative video startup Luma AI has already contracted to purchase the entire capacity of this initial cluster, which is planned for construction in 2026 using entirely renewable energy.

The joint venture aims to build up to one gigawatt of new data centers by 2030 to serve a massive market spanning Asia, Europe, India, the Middle East, and Africa.

Additionally, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang participated in a discussion on AI advances, with Musk later confirming that his AI venture, XAI, and Saudi Arabia are working on a 500-megawatt project with Nvidia.

On the fringes of the forum, Wassim Chourbaji, president of the Middle East and Africa for Qualcomm, told Arab News: “The mood is super positive. The partnership is great and solid. I see long term opportunities.

“In the case of Qualcomm, we’ve announced an AI engineering center co-located with Humain. We’ve announced a partnership with Humain and Adobe to run all creative content on our data center solution with Humain.

“We’ve announced previously the build out of our most advanced AI chips and AI solutions with Humain in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to build something called hybrid AI … And the other part is the industrial part, where AI is transforming industries, including oil and gas.”

The energy sector, traditionally the bedrock of the relationship, saw renewed focus on long-term investment. Amin Nasser, CEO of Saudi state oil giant Aramco, announced that Saudi Arabia would sign energy sector agreements with the US worth $30 billion.

Furthermore, a significant deal was announced to secure critical mineral supply chains, a key pillar of Vision 2030.

MP Materials, which operates the only US rare earths mine, is partnering with the US Department of Defense and Saudi Arabian mining company Maaden to build a rare earths refinery in Saudi Arabia.

This joint venture aims to expand Middle Eastern processing of these critical minerals, which are vital for fighter jets, electric vehicles, and other key technologies.

China currently dominates global refining, and this new facility represents a coordinated effort to seek alternative, stable supplies.

Under the deal, the joint venture between MP and the US Defense Department will hold a combined 49 percent stake in the Saudi refinery, with Maaden holding the remaining 51 percent.

The facility will refine heavy and light rare earths for use in the US and Saudi manufacturing and defense industries and for sale to allied nations.

Smaller firms were also represented at the forum to find ways to break into the Saudi market in areas as diverse as sports and entertainment.

Nicholas Cooper, founder and CEO of entertainment and creative infrastructure firm Convergenz, told Arab News: “It is very exciting right now to be at the Investment Forum for one primary reason.

“I believe that a lot of people have come to Saudi to take, and my goal is I want to be able to add value.

“I recognize that there’s a unique positioning right now to be able to bridge the worlds of technology, lifestyle and entertainment, to be able to really help to impact culture. But more importantly, to add value to the next generation.”