When the Saudi government offered soccer superstar Lionel Messi a contract said to be worth more than $500 million for two years, the amount seemed staggering though it should not have been surprising. That strategy—paying an exorbitant price to gain influence by hiring the world’s best talent—is one Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states have consistently applied in sports and other spheres.
Today, the Saudis target leaders at the forefront of technological progress in everything from biotechnology to semiconductors to synthetic intelligence (AI), and they seem willing to pay a ultimate price to achieve it.
When Sam Altman was fired from OpenAI, rumors immediately circulated that he was in talks with Middle Eastern investors, including the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, about a new AI chip venture as well as an AI device company worth billions of dollars. Though Messi ultimately turned down the generous offer to play for a Saudi soccer team, Altman’s plans for the chip company are unclear.
The rise of Saudi Arabia as a potential technology hub complicates the critical US generation strategy, especially in the semiconductor and artificial intelligence sector. To maintain its competitive advantage and ensure culpable AI development, the United States wants a strategy that integrates emerging technology centers. Middle East to its overall technology ecosystem, so that countries dependent on China are not affected by its high-tech ambitions.
Saudi Arabia has made its leadership plans in AI and other technologies transparent through its Vision 2030-2016, the government’s strategic plan to modernize the country. As a component of Vision 2030, the Saudi Data and AI Authority was established in 2019 with the stated ambition to “position Saudi Arabia as the global hub where the most productive knowledge and AI become a reality” and its workforce “with constant local sourcing. ” Talent driven by knowledge and AI.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman recently announced the creation of a $200 million fund to invest in local and foreign corporations specializing in complex technologies. A particular component of this technique is the partnership with generation pioneers around the world.
At the same time, Saudi Arabia is beginning to expand its own domestically generated capabilities, adding new core styles focused on Arabic and English, such as the Falcon-style series, which it now plans to make open-source.
If Saudi Arabia follows the style it has pioneered in sports, its next step would be to recruit prominent Western leaders in AI to increase its expertise and prestige. Until now, few prominent Western leaders in the AI space have joined the organization full-time. However, Saudi Arabia has signed a number of partnerships with Western tech giants, such as Microsoft and Oracle, which are locating part of their operations in the region and helping to build local business capacity.
As Saudi Arabia continues its push toward increased global integration, the U.S. must consider how it will respond. AI, semiconductors, and other critical sectors of interest to the Saudis have been identified as critical for both future U.S. economic development and for maintaining a lead in competition over China. Many of these technologies also have troubling dual-use applications, and the development of such capabilities outside of U.S. control may prove risky to U.S. interests if not properly managed.
However, the U. S. has a window of opportunity to positively influence the progress of these new Gulf tech hubs. Saudi Arabia obviously has the money and the willingness to spend it to attract the most sensible skills from the United States and beyond. The U. S. has some teams that its citizens work for, its hard-working, flexible formula has sometimes been permissive in allowing them to work in foreign countries and for foreign companies. Then it would be easier to exert over-generation and investments to influence those countries. without imposing unnecessary restrictions on U. S. citizens.
Many of the technologies that these states wish to develop, such as advanced semiconductor manufacturing, are regulated through export control regulations. The U.S. can leverage the need for Western partnership and technology to push Middle Eastern states to support U.S. priorities such as AI safety and security. Such leverage can also be used to condition partnership with Western companies on avoiding dependence on or leakage of critical technology to geopolitical rivals such as China.
The revitalization of the Saudi football team through the acquisition of prominent players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Neymar is the best example of how the Saudis have deployed their capital to expand their functions in the past. Now, a strategy may allow them to temporarily gain influence in a much more critical space.
Sarah Gebauer and Gregory Smith are analysts at the RAND Corporation, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization.
The reviews expressed in this article are the responsibility of the authors.
To learn more about how Newsweek uses AI as a writing tool, click here.