US President Donald Trump is set to host Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House on Tuesday for a visit demonstrating the countries' deepening security, trade and diplomatic relations.
Here is a look at some of the deals that might be discussed.
Military ties
Riyadh is hoping for a formal security pact, similar to the one reached between the US and the UAE.
The US could grant Riyadh “major defence partner” status, or make it a major non-Nato ally. Such an upgrade would enhance defence co-operation and make military technology transfers simpler.
Experts say Riyadh thinks the US did not sufficiently protect Saudi Arabia in 2019, when Iran was blamed for an attack on its oil infrastructure. Enhanced ties would make it easier for the US to respond to future aggression.
An Israeli air strike against Hamas leaders in Qatar in September might also be on the Crown Prince's mind, given the US was unable to stop the attack. Mr Trump has since upgraded security commitments to Doha.
F-35 fighters
The Trump administration is keen to finalise the sale of dozens of F-35 fighters to Riyadh and the President on Monday said the deal would go ahead.
“I will say that we will be doing that. We'll be selling F-35s,” Mr Trump said in the Oval Office when asked about sales to Saudi Arabia.
According to The New York Times, Pentagon officials are worried the tech on America's most advanced jet could be compromised, given Riyadh's security ties to Beijing.
US troop presence
The US military's Central Command forward headquarters is in Qatar, but some experts think Saudi Arabia could host US forces.
Bradley Bowman, senior director of the Centre on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies, said US military assets were vulnerable to attacks in Qatar. “You might want to put that further away from the adversary you'll be fighting, aka on the other side of Saudi Arabia,” he said.
Investment forum
Following Prince Mohammed's visit, business executives are to attend a Saudi-US Investment Forum on Wednesday in a follow-up to a similar forum held in Riyadh in May. The White House at the time celebrated a $600 billion investment commitment from Saudi Arabia.
Tim Callen, a visiting fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute, said what really matters is the timeframe in which that investment commitment is deployed.
"If we're talking about, you know, $600 billion in the four years of this administration, I think would be really hard to get to, particularly if oil prices stay down where they are," he said. "Clearly you push out that sort of time period. The longer you push it out, the more realistic it becomes to do."
Artificial intelligence
Saudi Arabia has aspirations of being an AI leader and ministers hope Riyadh can reap economic benefits from the burgeoning technology. The kingdom’s path to AI prosperity, however, probably needs to go through the US, which leads the world in research, start-ups and established companies.
During Mr Trump’s May visit to Saudi Arabia, US tech companies including Nvidia, Amazon Web Services and Advanced Micro Devices announced plans to work with Saudi Public Investment Fund's AI company Humain, but Middle East technology experts say Riyadh will make clear that those plans are just the tip of the iceberg.
“Saudi Arabia's message in Washington is going to be very direct, and that message is that AI is now a national priority on par with energy and security,” said Mohammed Soliman, a technology analyst and author of the coming book West Asia.
Mr Soliman added that Saudi officials want to build enough data centres so that the US sees Riyadh as a “long-term strategic partner in building the global AI compute supply”.
He said Saudi Arabia might try to follow the UAE's footsteps and show it can be a trusted partner in keeping powerful US-made graphics processing units (GPUs) from falling into the wrong hands. He added that the tech rivalry between the US and China ultimately works in Saudi Arabia’s favour if it hopes to lobby for more access to American chips.
“If America doesn't help co-build the Gulf's AI infrastructure, someone else will, and the Gulf is too important – energy, capital, geographic position – to leave that space open for China,” said Mr Soliman, who is also a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute.
Nuclear co-operation
Saudi Arabia wants to build several nuclear power plants and is seeking technical assistance from the US.
The groundwork for a nuclear energy agreement was laid by former president Joe Biden, who announced a clean energy framework with Saudi Arabia which included the notion of “human capacity-building in the nuclear energy field and co-operation in nuclear-regulatory aspects".
The US Energy Department signed an agreement on energy co-operation and a deal on critical minerals with Saudi Arabia during Mr Trump's May visit.
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said at the time that "there will definitely be a 123 agreement" with the kingdom, referring to the section under the US Atomic Energy Act that establishes a legally binding framework for peaceful nuclear co-operation between the US and its partners. A 123 agreement is usually required to be in place before the licensing of large exports of US-origin nuclear material and equipment to its partners.
