Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia broadens capital market as FDI soars
Saudi Arabia’s Capital Market Authority (CMA) has introduced new regulations allowing individual foreign investors residing in GCC countries to directly invest in equities on the Saudi Main Market (TASI) for the first time. The reforms also enable former residents of Saudi Arabia and other GCC nations to maintain and operate their investment accounts after relocating. These changes are part of broader efforts to modernise the Kingdom’s capital market, boost foreign participation, and align with Vision 2030 goals. With foreign ownership in Saudi equities surpassing SAR 500Bn, the CMA aims to enhance market accessibility, attract long-term capital, and position Saudi Arabia’s capital (Riyadh) as a leading regional financial hub…Read more
xAI reportedly eyes Saudi data centre space
Elon Musk’s xAI is in early talks to lease data centre capacity in Saudi Arabia as part of its global infrastructure expansion, according to Bloomberg. The company is considering two potential partners: Humain, a Saudi state-backed firm with multi-gigawatt ambitions still in early stages, and another unnamed partner building a 200MW facility already under construction. With $10Bn in recent funding, xAI is scaling up rapidly, adding to its existing US footprint, including its Memphis-based ‘Colossus’ supercluster and new site in Atlanta. The Saudi discussions align with Musk’s recent visit to the Kingdom and broader efforts to deepen cooperation on AI and digital infrastructure…Read more
UAE
EDGE and Pavo Group launch JV ‘KEY4’
EDGE Group and Turkey-based Pavo Group have launched KEY4, a joint venture based in Abu Dhabi focused on developing advanced defence and security technologies. Announced at IDEF 2025 in Istanbul, KEY4 will deliver solutions across critical domains, such as cybersecurity, AI, electronic warfare, secure communications, and aerospace. The partnership combines EDGE’s innovation with Pavo’s engineering expertise to support the UAE’s sovereign defence priorities and meet the evolving needs of global partners. This venture marks a significant step in strengthening the UAE’s position as a key contributor to regional and international security…Read more
Interesting News
USA
Meta to spend hundreds of billions on AI data centres in superintelligence push
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced plans to invest hundreds of billions of dollars into building massive AI data centres in the US to support the company’s ambition to lead in ‘’Superintelligence’’. The first facility, Prometheus, will go live in Ohio by 2026, with a second, Hyperion, scaling up to 5GW in Louisiana by 2030. The initiative is part of a broader overhaul of Meta’s AI strategy, including the launch of a new division, Superintelligence Labs, led by former Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang and ex-GitHub Chief Nat Friedman. Meta has already invested $14.3Bn in Scale and is targeting new revenue streams for Meta AI, image-to-video ad tools, and smart glasses. Internal discussions are also reportedly underway to abandon its open-source ‘’Behemoth’’ model in favour of a closed alternative. Backed by strong ad revenues and a capital expenditure forecast of $64-72Bn for 2025, Meta’s aggressive push places it in direct competition with OpenAI and Google in the race to build the world’s leading AI infrastructure. However, the scale of these AI data centres raises growing environmental concerns, particularly around water and energy usage. One study suggests that these data centres could consume 1.7Tn gallons of water globally by 2027, with a single AI query, for example, a request to ChatGPT, consuming roughly the same amount of water as a small plastic bottle…Read more