Today in the Daily Circuit, we’re looking at NMDC Energy’s first day of trading on Abu Dhabi’s ADX, Travelex’s aim to populate Saudi airports with its currency booths, Mubadala Energy’s exploration venture in Indonesia and BlackRock’s investment in a Saudi-Bahrain oil pipeline. But first, AI lures investors in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

The race is on for dominance over AI development in the Gulf. At dueling conferences this week in Dubai and Riyadh, government ministers, investors and corporate executives are sketching out their visions for integrating artificial intelligence into virtually all aspects of daily life.

Addressing a packed ballroom at the Dubai AI & Web3 Festival on Wednesday, Omar Al Olama, the UAE’s Minister of State for AI, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications, pledged that companies with the most innovative technologies will have the government’s backing.

“Our job is to enable you, our job is to ensure you’re able to use Dubai and the UAE as a springboard to make global companies that will make global impact and change the future,” Al Olama said.

In the Saudi capital, where the vast King Abdulaziz International Conference Center played host to the annual global AI summit known as GAIN, the buzz in the corridors was about chips – specifically whether the U.S. government will allow Nvidia to export its advanced AI semiconductor chips to Saudi Arabia, Semafor reports.

Saudi leaders have been trying to allay the Biden administration’s concerns that the kingdom’s growing ties with China could lead to the leaking of technological U.S. secrets and damage national security.

POWER TRADING

NMDC Energy began trading on Abu Dhabi’s ADX stock market on Wednesday after an IPO that was the UAE’s biggest this year. Chairman Mohamed Almehairi said the company’s listing “is an exceptional achievement that will define the pace for the sector’s engineering, procurement and construction business in Abu Dhabi and beyond.” NMDC Energy provides dredging and other services for the oil and gas industry. It’s backed by Alpha Dhabi Holding, a subsidiary of government-owned International Holding Co.

MONEY MATTERS

As Saudi Arabia opens its doors wider to international tourism, visitors have discovered that it pays to keep some riyals in their wallets. That’s an opportunity that Travelex, the U.K.-based currency exchange firm, couldn’t miss out on. Travelex CEO Richard Wazacz tells The National his company is intrigued by the opportunity of dotting the kingdom’s airports with the company’s currency booths. “We operate in every GCC market except Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, and we are very interested in operating in other markets,” he said. “Saudi Arabia is the one that interests us the most.”