Saudi Arabia (KSA) has pledged US$600 billion of investment in the United States economy across AI, energy, aviation - and $142 billion for military equipment - as President Donald Trump continues his deal-making tour of the Middle East.
Trump, flanked by America's business elite such as Elon Musk and Sam Altman - as well as CEO's from IBM, Blackrock, Citigroup, Palantir and NVIDIA - was welcomed onto stage and gave a lengthy speech about peace and business prosperity in the region.
Broker of peace?
“I am willing to end past conflicts and forge new partnerships for a better and more stable world, even if our differences may be very profound,” Trump said in a long speech in Riyadh.
“My preference will always be for peace and partnership, whenever those outcomes can be achieved. Always.
“In recent years, far too many American presidents have been afflicted with the notion that it’s our job to look into the souls of foreign leaders and use U.S. policy to dispense justice for their sins…
“I believe it is God’s job to sit in judgement - my job [is] to defend America and to promote the fundamental interests of stability, prosperity, and peace.
“Before our eyes, a new generation of leaders is transcending the ancient conflicts and tired divisions of the past, and forging a future where the Middle East is defined by commerce, not chaos; where it exports technology, not terrorism; and where people of different nations, religions, and creeds are building cities together — not bombing each other out of existence.”
Trump plans to lift sanctions on Syria and will meet its new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa after holding talks with KSA Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman and Turkiye President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness,” Trump said.
Deals made
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed pledged to invest $600 billion in the United States during a lunch with Trump, including $20bn in artificial intelligence data centres, purchases of gas turbines and other energy equipment worth $14.2bn, nearly $5bn in Boeing 737-8 jets, and other deals.
That includes a sales deal for 18,000 of NVIDIA's (NVDA : NASDAQ) latest GB300 Blackwell AI chips for Saudi tech company Humain, said the chipmaker’s CEO Jensen Huang.
Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund PIF, has turned its focus to AI, and is making a major investment to build AI factories in KSA 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.
“AI, like electricity and internet, is essential infrastructure for every nation,” Huang said.
“Together with HUMAIN, we are building AI infrastructure for the people and companies of Saudi Arabia to realize the bold vision of the Kingdom.”
Chaos as commerce?
Yet while talking about peace, $142 billion of that $600 billion total is an arms deal for the U.S. to supply KSA with state-of-the-art war-fighting equipment and services from over a dozen U.S. defence firms.
Sale catgegories were broken down by the following White House fact sheet:
- Air Force advancements and space capabilities
- Air and missile defence
- Maritime and coastal security
- Border security and land forces modernisation
- Information and communication systems upgrades
“The package also includes extensive training and support to build the capacity of the Saudi armed forces, including enhancement of Saudi service academies and military medical services,” the fact sheet said.
“This deal represents a significant investment in Saudi Arabia’s defence and regional security, built on American systems and training."
More deal news is expected.
