Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman concluded a visit to France with a raft of agreements covering many of his top priorities including AI, geopolitics, and even his favorite pastime: video games.
France has become the fourth-largest investor in Saudi Arabia, and MBS is returning the favor: A €6 billion theme park was among a series of agreements totaling more than $10 billion inked in Paris. France’s CMA CGM will, meanwhile, develop a new Red Sea port terminal in Jeddah, as the kingdom looks to lessen its reliance on the Strait of Hormuz. Saudi AI champion HUMAIN also agreed to cooperate with France’s Mistral on localizing AI models, betting that the demand for sovereign AI will accelerate.
But the real highlight for the Crown Prince would likely have been the Esports World Cup. Moved from Riyadh to Paris due to the Iran war, MBS has attended the event every year since he launched it in 2024.