Saudi and US companies announced deals related to artificial intelligence and energy on Wednesday, a day after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman boosted the kingdom's investment commitment into the US to $1 trillion.
The announcements, made during the Saudi-US Investment Forum, come as US President Donald Trump and Prince Mohammed spoke of deepening ties related to investment, security and technology.
“The partnership between our two nations is among the most consequential in the entire world, and together, the Crown Prince and I are making an alliance stronger and more powerful than it's ever been before,” Mr Trump said in remarks at the Kennedy Centre.
The business forum was attended by crowds of business executives including the heads of Aramco, Nvidia, Qualcomm, General Dynamics and Pfizer. Mr Trump said $270 billion in deals between dozens of companies would be signed at the forum.
Prince Mohammed announced on Tuesday that the kingdom would invest $1 trillion in the US, up from its previous $600 billion commitment. He did not provide details or a timeline. He also said he expects Saudi Arabia to spend $50 billion on chips in the “near term”.
The US and Saudi Arabia also signed a strategic AI partnership that will include the supply of advanced semiconductors. US companies need government approval to export chips to Saudi Arabia.
Regional experts have questioned how Saudi Arabia will be able to afford the $1 trillion commitment as it focuses on domestic investments. The kingdom is also running a current account and fiscal deficit, and is also facing softening oil prices amid the unwinding of production cuts by Opec+.
Humain deals
Among the announcements made on Wednesday was the formation of a joint venture involving the Public Investment Fund-backed Humain, which is expected to play a critical role in the kingdom's efforts to become an AI exporter.
Saudi Arabia has been investing heavily in AI as part of its broader diversification efforts under its Vision 2030 project.
Humain, AMD and Cisco said the joint venture, which has yet to be named, would deliver up to 1 gigawatt of AI infrastructure by 2030.
The companies said it will combine Humain's data centres with technology from AMD and Cisco, which will be exclusive technology partners. AMD and Humain announced plans in May to invest up to $10 billion for 500MW of AI computing capacity over the next five years.
Adobe and Qualcomm also said they are linking up with the Saudi AI company to create content in Arabic using Humain's large language model Allam.
Humain announced a strategic partnership with the New York-based Global AI to build a large-scale AI data centre in the US. It said the data centre will be designed for high-density compute and include Nvidia AI infrastructure.
“I believe Saudi Arabia is firmly on track to become the third pillar of global AI infrastructure,” Humain chief executive Tareq Amin said in a statement.
Humain has also led a $900 million financing round for video generation start-up Luma AI. The financing also includes participation from AMD's venture arm, as well as existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, Amplify Partners and Matrix Partners.
Luma is also linking up with Humain to build a 2GW computer supercluster known as “Project Halo”, which the companies said will begin operations in the first quarter of next year.
AWS and Humain also announced the installation of up to 150,000 AI accelerators to develop an "AI Zone" in Riyadh that will support training and access to Nvidia infrastructure.
Musk's xAI in Saudi Arabia
Tesla chief executive Elon Musk said his AI start-up xAI, which features the Grok chatbot, also plans to develop a 500MW data centre in Saudi Arabia with Humain, which will rely on chips from Nvidia.
Mr Musk made the announcement alongside Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang during a panel session earlier on Wednesday.
The project represents xAI's first large-scale computing centre outside the US.
“This collaboration represents the first of its kind partnership to deploy xAI’s Grok across an entire country,” Mr Musk said in a statement.
Aramco signs series of deals
Saudi energy giant Aramco also announced 17 agreements with a potential value of more than $30 billion with US companies. Aramco said the agreements build on the previous 34 announced in May, bringing the total value to about $120 billion.
The preliminary deals range from liquefied natural gas to advanced materials manufacturing and financial services.
Among the LNG deals is a possible investment with MidOcean Energy in the Lake Charles LNG project in Louisiana, near the Gulf Coast. It also announced an agreement with Commonwealth LNG on a separate Louisiana-based LNG project relating to Aramco Trading's potential purchase of LNG and gas.
The preliminary agreements come as Aramco aims for 20 million tonnes a year of LNG capacity.
Aramco signed a deal this year with NextDecade on a final agreement to buy 1.2 million tonnes a year of LNG from the Rio Grande LNG Facility's Train 4.
“For more than 90 years, we built a lot of strategic and historic relations with US partners. And it is continuing to grow in the US today,” Aramco chief executive Amin Nasser said during a panel discussion.
Other announcements
Saudi mining company Maaden announced a binding agreement with rare earth miner MP Materials and the US Defence Department for a joint venture to develop a rare earth minerals refinery in the kingdom. MP Materials and the Pentagon announced a public-private partnership in July.
And in a separate announcement with Microsoft, the PIF and Saudi Information Technology announced a preliminary agreement to explore delivering Microsoft's sovereign-cloud services in the kingdom.
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HEADLINE HERE
- I would recommend writing out the text in the body
- And then copy into this box
- It can be as long as you link
- But I recommend you use the bullet point function (see red square)
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- That's about it
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Constant Variable (CVT)
Power: 141bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: Dh64,500
On sale: Now
The Lowdown
Us
Director: Jordan Peele
Starring: Lupita Nyong'o, Winston Duke, Shahadi Wright Joseqph, Evan Alex and Elisabeth Moss
Rating: 4/5
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
Mia Man’s tips for fermentation
- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut
- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.
- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.
- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.
THE%20SPECS
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Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
The Pope's itinerary
Sunday, February 3, 2019 - Rome to Abu Dhabi
1pm: departure by plane from Rome / Fiumicino to Abu Dhabi
10pm: arrival at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport
Monday, February 4
12pm: welcome ceremony at the main entrance of the Presidential Palace
12.20pm: visit Abu Dhabi Crown Prince at Presidential Palace
5pm: private meeting with Muslim Council of Elders at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
6.10pm: Inter-religious in the Founder's Memorial
Tuesday, February 5 - Abu Dhabi to Rome
9.15am: private visit to undisclosed cathedral
10.30am: public mass at Zayed Sports City – with a homily by Pope Francis
12.40pm: farewell at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport
1pm: departure by plane to Rome
5pm: arrival at the Rome / Ciampino International Airport
The specs: 2018 Maxus T60
Price, base / as tested: Dh48,000
Engine: 2.4-litre four-cylinder
Power: 136hp @ 1,600rpm
Torque: 360Nm @ 1,600 rpm
Transmission: Five-speed manual
Fuel consumption, combined: 9.1L / 100km
SERIE A FIXTURES
Saturday Benevento v Atalanta (2pm), Genoa v Bologna (5pm), AC Milan v Torino (7.45pm)
Sunday Roma v Inter Milan (3.30pm), Udinese v Napoli, Hellas Verona v Crotone, Parma v Lazio (2pm), Fiorentina v Cagliari (9pm), Juventus v Sassuolo (11.45pm)
Monday Spezia v Sampdoria (11.45pm)
UAE players with central contracts
Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Rameez Shahzad, Shaiman Anwar, Adnan Mufti, Mohammed Usman, Ghulam Shabbir, Ahmed Raza, Qadeer Ahmed, Amir Hayat, Mohammed Naveed and Imran Haider.
What's in the deal?
Agreement aims to boost trade by £25.5bn a year in the long run, compared with a total of £42.6bn in 2024
India will slash levies on medical devices, machinery, cosmetics, soft drinks and lamb.
India will also cut automotive tariffs to 10% under a quota from over 100% currently.
Indian employees in the UK will receive three years exemption from social security payments
India expects 99% of exports to benefit from zero duty, raising opportunities for textiles, marine products, footwear and jewellery
No more lice
Defining head lice
Pediculus humanus capitis are tiny wingless insects that feed on blood from the human scalp. The adult head louse is up to 3mm long, has six legs, and is tan to greyish-white in colour. The female lives up to four weeks and, once mature, can lay up to 10 eggs per day. These tiny nits firmly attach to the base of the hair shaft, get incubated by body heat and hatch in eight days or so.
Identifying lice
Lice can be identified by itching or a tickling sensation of something moving within the hair. One can confirm that a person has lice by looking closely through the hair and scalp for nits, nymphs or lice. Head lice are most frequently located behind the ears and near the neckline.
Treating lice at home
Head lice must be treated as soon as they are spotted. Start by checking everyone in the family for them, then follow these steps. Remove and wash all clothing and bedding with hot water. Apply medicine according to the label instructions. If some live lice are still found eight to 12 hours after treatment, but are moving more slowly than before, do not re-treat. Comb dead and remaining live lice out of the hair using a fine-toothed comb.
After the initial treatment, check for, comb and remove nits and lice from hair every two to three days. Soak combs and brushes in hot water for 10 minutes.Vacuum the floor and furniture, particularly where the infested person sat or lay.
Courtesy Dr Vishal Rajmal Mehta, specialist paediatrics, RAK Hospital
Zayed Sustainability Prize
UAE v Gibraltar
What: International friendly
When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)
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