Gulf

1. Saudi inks $20B+ tech deals
2. …and bets big on basketball
3. Emirates needs planes now
4. Qatar joins industrial group
5. Leadership = hope

Saudi Arabia to get flying taxis by 2030.

Investors back Saudi AI ambitions

Saudi Arabia’s LEAP tech conference has surpassed $20 billion in investment commitments this week, with major artificial intelligence deals signaling the kingdom’s ambitions in the sector. Among the biggest: A $5 billion green AI data center in NEOM’s Oxagon, the futuristic industrial zone on the Red Sea. Riyadh-based data center developer DataVolt — which has offices in the US, Uzbekistan, India, and the UAE — will fund the first phase of the project, expected to be operational by 2028.

Other deals include a $1.5 billion commitment by US-based AI firm Groq, in collaboration with Aramco Digital, to establish what could be the world’s largest AI inferencing data center in Saudi Arabia, and a $500 million pledge from US-based Salesforce to expand its platform and enhance cloud services for regional customers.

With ample energy, capital, and land, the Gulf is emerging as a key player in the race to develop the world’s most advanced AI models, investing in both infrastructure and software locally and globally.

Saudi goes bigger in sports

Saudi Arabia is taking another swing at global sports. The kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, Singapore’s government, a Macau casino operator, and other investors are backing a $5 billion global basketball tournament led by Maverick Carter, business partner of basketball legend LeBron James, the Financial Times reported. The league will feature six men’s and six women’s teams competing in eight cities, providing an alternative to the NBA’s dominance.

Basketball is the latest target of Saudi’s massive sports investment spree. The kingdom has transformed its local football league by signing global stars, disrupted professional golf with LIV Golf, and become a powerhouse in boxing. Last week, LIV secured a broadcasting deal with ITV in the UK, while Saudi Arabia is set to host the first-ever Olympic Esports Games in 2027, further expanding its influence in global sports.

Emirates eyes growth amid jet delays

Emirates continues to add new routes despite aircraft delivery setbacks, with the airline incurring costs and extending the lifespan of its fleet to compensate for the delays, a senior executive said. The world’s largest long-haul carrier has staked its future on the Boeing 777X — ordering 205 units of the jet, which was expected to enter service in 2020 but has yet to be certified. Emirates has sought compensation from Boeing for the delays, as stipulated in their agreement, Deputy President and Chief Operations Officer Adel Al Redha told reporters on the sidelines of the World Governments Summit in Dubai. The airline is adjusting schedules and using Airbus A350s — 12 are expected by August — to sustain expansion.

As one of Dubai’s largest employers, the airline is a key pillar of the Dubai Economic Agenda D33, launched in 2023 to double the emirates’s economy by 2033, and is tasked with boosting tourism and expanding connectivity. To stay competitive with Gulf peers and Turkish Airlines, Emirates is investing $4 billion to retrofit its A380s and older-generation 777 jets.

Qatar, Bahrain partner in steel deal

The value of a deal between two steel companies in Bahrain and Qatar to supply 5 million tons of the metal over five years to customers in the Middle East. The agreement is part of Qatar and Türkiye joining the Integrated Industrial Partnership for Sustainable Economic Development, expanding the group to seven countries, including the UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, and Morocco. The initiative aims to boost investment partnerships in the Middle East. Gulf countries are intensifying efforts to diversify their economies by increasing industrial output and exports. The UAE, for example, plans to double its industrial sector’s contribution to the economy to 300 billion dirhams ($82 billion) by 2031.

Hope tops leadership traits

The world’s followers have spoken: They seek hope from their leaders. This is according to Gallup’s Global Leadership Report — which surveyed people from 52 countries and was released at the World Governments Summit in Dubai, where political and business elites are mingling this week. The survey found that hope is the dominant quality followers seek in leaders, followed by trust. Countries with younger populations, such as Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, and Egypt, placed a greater emphasis on hope, with followers seeking attributes like inspiration and vision to shape their economies and societies.

Who people look to for leadership varies. In the expat-heavy, work-driven UAE, half of the respondents identified a workplace manager as their most influential figure, the third highest globally after China and Germany. This compares to a third of respondents in Saudi and the US, where leadership influence is more evenly distributed among workplace, political, and religious figures.

Manufacturing

• Public Investment Fund-backed tech fund Alat and Chinese tech giant Lenovo have broken ground on a new manufacturing plant in Riyadh. The facility — which opens next year — will make laptops, desktops, and servers, and is part of a broader partnership that will create 15,000 jobs.

Commodities

• Gulf countries are working towards launching metal trading units amid surging demand for energy transition material. Abu Dhabi’s International Resources Holding has already built out a 60-person team while Minerals Development Oman is in the process of hiring a top executive to lead a 25-person team. — Financial Times

Sports

• Qatar observed “Sports Day” Tuesday, a public holiday unique in the region and rare globally. It’s an annual celebration of physical activity — people of all ages participated in football, running, and other feats of endurance, in what the government hopes isn’t a one-off annual workout. — The Peninsula

Gridlocked in Riyadh traffic and not a fan of trains? Austrian startup FlyNow is betting on electric aviation to ease congestion, with eCopters set to zip above the kingdom’s cities. After cargo trials over low-density areas, the company is expanding into passenger transport. Pricing remains unclear, but FlyNow is already building a fleet of eCopters — capable of reaching 130 kph — to shuttle delegates at Expo 2030 in the capital. While it’s unlikely these sleek flying taxis will shorten the daily commute for most, for a select few, the future promises even more perks.

US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable approach to policymaking undermines his goal of energy “dominance,” Jigar Shah, the former senior official who managed Joe Biden’s biggest energy bank, told Semafor’s Tim McDonnell.

Shah’s successor, John Sneed, has threatened to claw back clean energy funds that had already been approved under Biden. Shah thinks that effort won’t ultimately succeed — but that the uncertainty might still have a chilling effect on companies interested in investing in clean energy.