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Sovereign wealth funds out of the Middle East are emerging as key backers of Silicon Valley's artificial intelligence darlings. In the past year, funding for AI companies by Middle-Eastern sovereigns has increased fivefold, according to data from Pitchbook. Few venture funds have deep enough pockets to compete with the multibillion-dollar checks coming from the likes of Microsoft and Amazon . MGX was launched as a dedicated AI fund in March, with Abu Dhabi's Mubadala and AI firm G42 as founding partners. For the U.S., having sovereign wealth funds invest in American companies, and not in global adversaries like China, has been a geopolitical priority.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, Prince Mohammed bin Salman's, Uber, LIV, UAE's Mubadala, MGX, Abu Dhabi's Mubadala, Anthropic, Andreessen Horowitz, Jamal Khashoggi, It's, Bpifrance, WeWork spiraled, Jared Cohen, there's Organizations: United, CNBC, Microsoft, Gulf Cooperation Council, Saudi Public Investment Fund, Abu, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Qatar Investment Authority, BlackRock, Global Infrastructure Partners, Saudi, U.S, Saudi Company, Artificial Intelligence, Washington Post, SoftBank, Goldman Sachs Global Institute Locations: Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Pitchbook, Abu Dhabi, Temasek, Singapore, China, UAE

☆ An ex-Googler reveals why she's selling her construction startup to a Saudi company with still a year of runway in the bank
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-02 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

She's now selling her startup to WakeCap, a Saudi Arabia-based company that has contracts with many of the kingdom's construction megaprojects such as "desert cities." Instead, Eisnor exited early, selling her startup to help it scale faster. WakeCapBuilt toughFor nine years, Eisnor had a front-row seat at a tech rocketship, Waze, the Israeli-born maps and navigation company. "There is a reality in construction software that a lot of the names that you might know, they're going to be hovering around, say, $10 million in ARR. Eisnor is staying on as chief strategy officer, and Crews by Core's chief technology officer, Gene Gutnik, now leads tech for the combined company.

Persons: Ann Eisnor, Crews, Eisnor, I'm, Caterina Fake's, Hassan Albalawi, Albalawi, Kajima, —, WakeCap's Albalawi, they're, Gene Gutnik, WakeCap Organizations: Service, Business, NFX, GV, Google, McKinsey & Company, Autodesk, Core, Core's Locations: Saudi Arabia, United States, Saudi, Silicon, Silicon Valley, Israeli, hyperscale, WeWork

☆ South Korea's Hyundai, Saudi Aramco clinch $2.4 bln gas plant deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( Hyonhee Shin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] General view of the summit between President of South Korea, Yoon Suk-Yeol and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman in al Yamamah Palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia October 22, 2023. Saudi Press Agency/Handout via REUTERS Acquire Licensing RightsSEOUL, Oct 24 (Reuters) - South Korea's Hyundai Engineering & Construction (000720.KS) and Hyundai Engineering have signed a $2.4 billion contract with oil giant Saudi Aramco (2222.SE) to build a gas processing plant, Seoul's presidential office said on Tuesday. Jafurah is Saudi's largest unconventional non-oil associated gas field, with reserves estimated at 200 trillion cubic feet (5.7 trillion cubic metres) of raw gas. State-run Korea National Oil Corp also clinched a storage deal with Aramco during Yoon's visit that allows the Saudi company to store 5.3 million barrels of oil in South Korea's reserve facilities in the port of Ulsan for five years. After a four-day stay in Riyadh, Yoon left for Doha on Monday where he will attend an international horticultural expo before holding a summit on Tuesday with Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, his office said.

Persons: Yoon Suk, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, Yoon Suk Yeol, Yoon, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad, Hyonhee Shin, Tom Hogue Organizations: Saudi Arabia's Crown, Saudi Press Agency, Handout, REUTERS Acquire, Rights, Hyundai Engineering, Construction, Saudi Aramco, South Korean, Hyundai Motor Group, Hyundai, Aramco, Saudi Crown, Saudi, Hamas, Korea National Oil Corp, Doha, Thomson Locations: South Korea, al Yamamah, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Rights SEOUL, Saudi, Israel, South Korea's, Ulsan, Thani

As Telefonica's rivals slashed prices to attract internet users, the Spanish company also borrowed to invest in new mobile and internet networks. But the secrecy with which STC (7010.SE) built its stake did catch some observers off guard, the person said. Telefonica said it was informed Tuesday about STC'S investment, after the companies had become more acquainted in recent months. STC sought to keep the stake under wraps until it could buy at least 9.9% of Telefonica, the person said. Middle Eastern investors have been taking stakes in Spanish companies for some time.

Persons: Violeta Santos Moura, Jose Maria Alvarez, Pallete, Alvarez, Prince Mohammed bin Salman's, UGT, Morgan Stanley, Linklaters, Motaz Al Angari, Al Angari, pare, EFG Hermes, Nadia Calvino, Inti Landauro, Tomas Cobos, Amy, Jo Crowley, Pablo Mayo, John O'Donnell, Anousha, Elisa Martinuzzi, David Gregorio, Ros Russell Organizations: Spanish Telecom, REUTERS, Rights, Telefonica, STC Group, STC, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Foresight, Saudi, United Arab, Vodafone, Thomson Locations: Madrid, Spain, Rights DUBAI, MADRID, Silicon Valley, Saudi, Riyadh, Telefonica, Saudi Arabia, Spanish, Latin America, theocracies, United Arab Emirates, Iberdrola, Davos, Gulf, London

He learned Saudi Arabia's largest telecoms operator, STC Group, aimed to be Telefonica's biggest shareholder, with an interest of 9.9%. The move is a vote of confidence in Telefonica, burdened by billions of dollars in debt while STC gains expertise to modernize Saudi telecoms infrastructure. As Telefonica's rivals slashed prices to attract internet users, the Spanish company also borrowed to invest in new mobile and internet networks. STC sought to keep the stake under wraps until it could buy at least 9.9% of Telefonica, the person said. Middle Eastern investors have been taking stakes in Spanish companies for some time.

Persons: Violeta Santos Moura, Jose Maria Alvarez, Pallete, Alvarez, Prince Mohammed bin Salman's, UGT, Morgan Stanley, Linklaters, Motaz Al Angari, Al Angari, pare, EFG Hermes, Inti Landauro, Tomas Cobos, Amy, Jo Crowley, Pablo Mayo, John O'Donnell, Anousha, Elisa Martinuzzi, David Gregorio Our Organizations: Spanish Telecom, REUTERS, Rights, Telefonica, STC Group, STC, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Foresight, Saudi, United Arab, Vodafone, Thomson Locations: Madrid, Spain, Rights DUBAI, MADRID, Silicon Valley, Saudi, Riyadh, Telefonica, Saudi Arabia, Spanish, Latin America, theocracies, United Arab Emirates, Iberdrola, Davos, Gulf, London

☆ While Western states fight tooth-and-nail over the shrinking the Colorado River, Arizona has let water flow freely — in part to feed cows in Saudi Arabia
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Western states that rely on the shrinking Colorado River have struggled for years to agree to cuts. Arizona was among the states that came to an agreement in May and has asked residents to cut back. The Washington Post found Arizona has let a Saudi firm pump water unchecked for years. But since 2015, Arizona has let a Saudi Arabian firm use water largely unchecked. While the extent of water usage by a Saudi company for alfalfa exports has sparked controversy in Arizona, others have pointed out that the state's water problems go well beyond that.

Persons: it's, John Schneeman, Fondomonte Organizations: Washington Post, Service, feds Locations: Colorado, Arizona, Saudi, Phoenix, Saudi Arabia, Arizona , Colorado , Nevada , New Mexico , Utah , Wyoming, California, May , Arizona , California, Nevada

☆ Iraq, TotalEnergies sign massive oil, gas, renewables deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BAGHDAD, July 10 (Reuters) - Iraq and French oil major TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) on Monday signed a long-delayed $27 billion energy deal that aims to increase oil production and boost the country's capacity to produce energy with four oil, gas and renewables projects. TotalEnergies Chairman and CEO Patrick Pouyanne signed the agreement with Iraqi oil minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani at a ceremony in Baghdad, with Pouyanne calling it a "historic day". "I hope that this will be a strong signal to other investors to come to Iraq," Pouyanne said. Exxon Mobil, Shell and BP have all scaled back their operations in Iraq in recent years, contributing to a stagnation in oil production. Iraq's oil production capacity has remained at around 5 million barrels per day in recent years.

Persons: TotalEnergies, QatarEnergy, Patrick Pouyanne, Hayan Abdel, Ghani, we'll, Abdel, Pouyanne, Maher Nazeh, Nadine Awadalla, Timour, Louise Heavens, Jason Neely, Christina Fincher Organizations: Monday, Exxon Mobil, Shell, BP, Thomson Locations: BAGHDAD, Iraq, Baghdad, Basra, Saudi, U.S, Saudi Arabia, Dubai

☆ Oil giant Saudi Aramco's quarterly profit surges 39% on higher prices
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

An offshore drilling platform stands in shallow waters at the Manifa offshore oilfield, operated by Saudi Aramco, in Manifa, Saudi Arabia. ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — State oil giant Saudi Aramco reported a 39% rise in net income for the third quarter year-on-year, on the back of higher crude prices and tightening global supply. Net income rose to $42.4 billion for the quarter, up from $30.4 billion the previous year and just above expectations. "While global crude oil prices during this period were affected by continued economic uncertainty, our long-term view is that oil demand will continue to grow for the rest of the decade given the world's need for more affordable and reliable energy," Nasser added. Aramco is not alone in predicting a continued rise in oil demand.

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