Saudi Arabia announces $14.9 billion AI investment plan to consolidate global technology leadership

Recently, the LEAP2025 flagship event was officially launched in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, bringing together global technology and innovation leaders. According to Saudi News Agency, an investment and project in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) totaling more than US$14.9 billion was announced on the first day of the event, marking Saudi Arabia's leading position in shaping the future of global digitalization.

The investment will promote digital skills development, support the growth of technology startups, and inspire innovation in Saudi Arabia. These initiatives further consolidate Saudi Arabia's position as the largest digital economy in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, while providing a thriving environment for global technology companies.

Saudi Minister of Communications and Information Technology Abdullah Alswaha announced this important news in his keynote speech. The theme of LEAP2025 is "About the New World" and the exhibition will continue until Wednesday. Minister Alswaha stressed that the support of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman provides strong guarantees for these investments and initiatives.

"These initiatives are crucial to strengthening the strength of the technology industry and accelerating Saudi Arabia's transformation to an innovative, artificial intelligence-driven economy, while closely aligning with the goals of Saudi Arabia's 2030 vision," Alswaha said.

The event was sponsored by the Saudi Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the Saudi Federation of Cybersecurity, Programming and Drones (SAFCSP) and Tahaluf, and was supported by the event investment fund. The first day of investment announcement included several important initiatives:

• Groq and Aramco Digital : Investing $1.5 billion to expand AI cloud computing, making Saudi Arabia a global leader in artificial intelligence.
• Alat and Lenovo : Invest $2 billion to create an advanced manufacturing and technology center based on artificial intelligence and robots in Saudi Arabia, and establish a regional headquarters for Lenovo in Riyadh.
• Google : Plans to establish a global AI center in Saudi Arabia to meet regional and international needs through investment in AI infrastructure.
• Qualcomm : Introducing the ALLaM language model on Qualcomm AI cloud, together with ALLaM AI PC, promotes cloud-based AI solutions.
• Alibaba Cloud : Working with Tuwaiq Academy and STC to launch an AI empowerment program to cultivate local talent and support a sustainable digital future.
• Databricks : Committed $300 million to platform-as-a-service (PaaS) solutions to promote data engineering and artificial intelligence expertise.
• SambaNova : Promising $140 million to enhance Saudi Arabia's advanced artificial intelligence infrastructure.
• KKR and Gulf Data Center : Make significant investments in Saudi Arabia's data center development with a capacity of up to 300 MW.
• Salesforce : Committed to invest $500 million to expand its Hyperforce platform in Saudi Arabia.
• Tencent Cloud : Invest US$150 million to establish its first cloud region in the Middle East to launch integrated AI capabilities from Saudi Arabia.

These investment plans have laid a solid foundation for Saudi Arabia's digital future and further promoted the country's leadership in global technological innovation and AI.