The LEAP technology conference running in Riyadh this week has seen Chinese firms planting deeper roots in the kingdom, spanning AI infrastructure and manufacturing. ByteDance’s enterprise cloud arm, BytePlus, is partnering with Saudi telecom operator Mobily to build its first physical cloud infrastructure in the Middle East, in Riyadh.
China’s Tencent Cloud secured a Saudi operating license to serve clients in government and finance, EnterpriseAM reported, a move that will build on $150 million the tech giant has invested so far in the kingdom. And hardware maker Lenovo is on track to begin mass production of a laptop (unveiled at LEAP) in Riyadh by the end of the year.
The deals may perk up ears in Washington: The Trump administration has dangled advanced chips to the Gulf, in part on terms aimed at keeping Chinese tech firms out. Still, American Big Tech is circling. Elon Musk’s xAI announced at LEAP it plans to build its first data center outside the US in Saudi Arabia.