LIVE Tech Blog — Trump's Gulf Tour 2025
A LIVE blog of breaking news during Trump's Gulf Tour 2025
President Donald J. Trump begins the first international trip of his presidency tomorrow, arriving in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. With AI export controls, technology investment and bilateral technology agreements high on the agenda, Middle East AI News will be reporting on announcements throughout this week.
Whilst the Whitehouse has yet to confirm final details for the President's Gulf visit, he is expected to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and then the United Arab Emirates between Tuesday May 13th and Friday May 16th.
Here's President Trump's schedule, as far as we know it:
Tuesday, May 13th - Bilateral meetings and Saudi-US Investment Forum
Wednesday, May 14th - Gulf-U.S. summit in Riyadh. Departs for Qatar.
Thursday, May 15th - Travels to the UAE.
Friday, May 16th - Trump's Middle East visit concludes
We’ll be sharing live updates, breaking news and exclusive announcements throughout Trump’s visit
Read our full preview of Trump’s Gulf tour here.
LIVE BLOG — Friday, 16-May-25
REFRESH PAGE FOR LATEST UPDATES - ALL TIMES GST / UAE
23:30 — Nvidia, Cisco and OpenAI back ‘UAE Stargate’
CNBC repots that “U.S. tech giants Nvidia, Cisco and OpenAI are supporting the “UAE Stargate” artificial intelligence data center announced this week” according to unnamed sources.
Nvidia will supply hardware with the latest Blackwell GB300 systems, says CNBC. Well, it’s extremely likely, isn’t it?
12:45 — US-UAE agree “to create path” for a 500,000 AI chip contract
CNBC has quoted the US President as saying that the US and UAE had “agreed to create a path for the UAE to buy some of the word’s most advanced AI semiconductors from American companies, it’s a very big contract,”. The comments were made at a U.S.-UAE Business Council breakfast during the last day of his four-day visit to the Middle East. (CNBC)
12:30 — Abu Dhabi Business Forum held for US President ends
The Abu Dhabi Business Forum organised for President Trump has ended, which the President concluded with a short summary of his Gulf tour and a few words of thanks to his hosts.
10:20 — President Trump in Abu Dhabi meetings this morning
After a lot of public exposure and live televised activities yesterday, President Trump is having some closed door meetings today, including a meeting with top UAE and US business leaders, and a meeting with US Embassy staff.
More announcements to come though!
LIVE BLOG — Thursday, 15-May-25
00:00 — UAE, US to built biggest AI campus outside the USA
The United Arab Emirates and the United States will establish a regional artificial intelligence technology cluster in Abu Dhabi, together with a 5 Gigawatt (GW) capacity data centre, which will be the largest outside of the US.
To be built and operated by G42, the hub will deliver sovereign, AI-grade compute at scale, supporting regional innovation and serving nearly half the world’s population.
22:45 — Trump mentions a new UAE project called ‘AI Plus’
President Trump’s public engagements are over for the day. During the evening he and President Mohammed bin Zayed witnessed a briefing on a project called ‘AI Plus’. Mr Trump said the new development will do must of its purchases from US companies, but this may have been an exclusive briefing and no details have so far been shared about the nature of the new project.
19:30 — US, UAE finalise technology framework agreement
According to Reuters, the United States and United Arab Emirates have now finalised a technology framework agreement that includes a 500,000 Nvidia AI chip quota, and it is expected to be signed later today during President Donald Trump’s visit. (Reuters)
16:30 — Trump arrives in Abu Dhabi
President Trump has arrived in Abu Dhabi and meets with UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan shortly after disembarking from Air Force One.
11:15 [10:15 Qatar] — Trump to depart Qatar soon for the UAE
President Trump will soon depart Qatar for the UAE, after signing a trade and investment agreement with Qatar worth at least $1.2 trillion. The US President witnessed more than $243.5 billion in deals between the United States and Qatar.
Other than the order for 160 Boeing wide-bodied jets and defence-related deals, there was also a JV agreement between US-based Quantinuum and Al Rabban Capital, with Qatar investing up to $1 billion in quantum technologies.
07:00 — US poised to sign 500,000 AI chip export deal with UAE!
The UAE is on the verge of signing an export quota agreement with the USA allowing it to import 500,000 of NVIDIA’s most advanced AI processors annually, according to sources quoted in a Reuters report. The deal is expected to be announced by President Trump today, on the last leg of his Gulf tour.
LIVE BLOG — Wednesday, 14-May-25
19:00 [18:00 Qatar] — No US tech deals in Qatar, so far!
President Trump witnessed a deal being signed with Qatar for 160 Boeing aircraft and a defence agreement, but no big tech deals announced so far.
However, this evening the President attends a state dinner at the Lucail Palace and tomorrow morning he meets with business leaders before flying to the UAE. So, we’ll keep you posted!
16:30 [15:30 Qatar] — President Trump motorcade from airport
15:30 [14:30 Qatar] — President Trump lands in Doha
President Trump has landed in Doha, Qatar for the second leg of his Gulf tour.
10:00 [09:00 KSA] — President Trump to attend US-Gulf Summit
President Trump is set to meet GCC leaders and delegations this morning in a US-Gulf Summit organised by the government of Saudi Arabia.
Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and His Highness Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah the Amir of Kuwait are confirmed to attend.
Oman’s Deputy Prime Minister for International Relations and Cooperation Affairs and Special Representative of His Majesty the Sultan, HH Sayyid Asaad bin Tarik al Said, will head Oman’s delegation.
Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan leads the UAE delegation.
Trump will depart for Qatar after the Summit.
07:30 [06:50 KSA] — Missed President Trump’s speech in Riyadh?
The White House has summarised President Trump’s speech to the Saudi-US Investment Forum in Riyadh yesterday, linking to video clips. Here’s the link.
0550 [04:50 KSA] — President Trump confirms $600B Saudi investment
Yesterday President Trump confirmed with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that Saudi Arabia will invest $600 billion in the US economy, but media reports also say that MBS will try to make it $1 trillion. (Media sources)
LIVE BLOG — Tuesday, 13-May-25
2230 [21:30 KSA] — Oracle commits $14 billion to Saudi market
Oracle has announced a planned investment of $14 billion in Saudi Arabia over the next decade, significantly expanding its cloud and AI infrastructure in the Kingdom. Read the full story.
2015 [19:15 KSA] — AMD & HUMAIN form $10B joint venture
AMD & Saudi AI company HUMAIN have formed a joint venture to build out 500MW of AI compute capacity in 5 years.
"This AI joint venture opens a new chapter in sovereign AI,” explained Keith Strier, AMD's Senior Vice President of Global AI Markets in an exclusive interview with Middle East AI News. “In order to meet the compute demands of digital economies, nations will look to create deeper partnerships with novel deal structures.." Read the full story.
1930 [18:30 KSA] — The Crown Prince addresses the Saudi-US forum
1900 [18:00 KSA] — HUMAIN to buy hundreds of thousands of NVIDIA chips to build ‘AI factories’ across Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) new subsidiary HUMAIN will buy several hundred thousand NVIDIA GPUs over five years with a projected capacity of 500 megawatts, beginning with an 18,000 NVIDIA GB300 Grace Blackwell AI supercomputer. Read the full story.
1615 [15:15 KSA] — President & Crown Prince meet business leaders
President Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met with Saudi and US government and business leaders. Pictured meeting Liza Su, CEO of AMD.
President Trump is due to address the Saudi-US Investment Forum a little later this afternoon.
14:00 [13:00 KSA] — Ruth Porat President & CIO Google & Alphabet
Ruth Porat President & CIO Google & Alphabet speaking at the Saudi-US Investment Forum about Google’s Saudi partnership to create a national innovation hub. (Various sources)
13:05 [12:05 KSA] — President Trump meeting with Saudi Crown Prince
US President Donald Trump holding meeting(s) with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. (Various sources)
11:05 [10:05 KSA] — Air Force One lands in Riyadh
US President Donald Trump’s plane has touched down in Riyadh on first stop in three-country trip. (Al Jazeera)
09:45 [8:45 KSA] — Saudi-US Investment Forum
Tech leaders expected to speak at today’s Saudi-US Investment Froum include:
Cristiano Amon, President and CEO, Qualcomm Incorporated
Jensen Huang, Founder & CEO, NVIDIA
Andy Jassy, President and CEO, Amazon U.S.A
Dr. Alex Karp, Co-Founder & CEO, Palantir Technologies
Arvind Krishna, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, IBM
Elon Musk, CEO, SpaceX & Founder x AI U.S.A
Ruth Porat, President & Chief Investment Officer, Alphabet and Google
David Sacks, White House AI and Crypto Czar
06:00 — Saudi-US Investment Forum begins this morning
The Saudi-US Investment Forum begins at about 9am this morning a the King Abdulaziz International Conference Centre. President Trump is expected to attend the event later in the day and witness some key announcements.
05:45 — US reaches trade agreement with China
The Trump administration has reached an agreement with China to retain U.S. reciprocal tariffs on China, after successful negotiations over the weekend in Geneva, Agree to future trade discussions. (USTR via X.com)
LIVE BLOG — Monday, 12-May-25
20:45 — Saudi Cabinet optimistic about President Trump visit
The Saudi Cabinet expressed optimism that the visit would serve to deepen the strategic partnership between Riyadh and Washington. (Arab News)
20:45 — President Trump departs for Saudi Arabia
President Trump has boarded Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews (JBA) for the first part of his long flight to Saudi Arabia. (Media reports)
18:55 — Crown Prince announces new Saudi AI powerhouse
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced a new national AI company called HUMAIN. To drive AI innovation across the entire AI value chain. The timing of this announcement may well set the stage for US partnerships yet to be announced this week! Read more.
14:00 — Qatar government shares US partnership video
Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has shared a video on X.com as a tribute to more than 50 Years of partnership with the USA.
Qatar is expected to sign an order - in President Trump’s presence - for 100 widebody jets from Boeing, according to a recent Bloomberg report. (Reuters)
12:00 — New $50 million fund to connect GCC & SV
Wyld VC, a new $50 million fund has been launched to fund early-stage AI ventures in Silicon Valley and the GCC. The fund is founded by venture capitalist Tala Al Jabri and funded by the family office of Lawrence E. Golub. Read more.
10:50 — Scale AI to open Riyadh office
In comments made to Bloomberg, San Francisco-based Scale AI confirmed plans to open Riyadh office by the year-end. The announcement follows regional deals signed in Qatar and the UAE earlier this year. Read more.
08:23 — Trump claims ‘a total reset’ in China-US trade relations
Jsut one day before the President’s arrival in Saudi Arabia, The White House has said that it will announce a trade deal with China, following bilateral trade talks in Geneva. Trump has called the deal a 'total reset' of China-US trade relations, while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who is leading the talks, said “substantial progress” had been made. (POLITICO)
06:50 — Qatar calls Trump jet offer reports ‘inaccurate’
According to Politico, Qatar has denied reports that Trump is preparing to accept a luxury jet from the country’s royal family. (POLITICO)
05:50 — Rubio to accompany Trump to KSA, Qatar
Secretary of State Marco Rubio will now accompany President Trump to Saudi Arabia and Qatar (“May 11-14” according to Dos). Secretary Rubio’s will meet with senior officials regarding global and regional challenges, bilateral trade and investment. He will then travel to Antalya, Türkiye, May 14-16 for the NATO Informal Foreign Ministers meeting. See full statement from US DoS.
Check back here often for breaking news and updates from President Donald J. Trump’s 2025 Gulf tour (May 13-16)
Note this blog is AI- and technology-focused, so may not cover all news surrounding the President’s Gulf tour.