For the first time, a Saudi soccer team has been acquired by a foreign investor.

The Saudi Pro League’s Al-Kholood club was bought by the Harburg Group, a business founded by American private equity investor Ben Harburg, for an undisclosed price.

The sale to a foreign group represents a change in Saudi Arabia, which has invested heavily in European soccer and spent hundreds of millions of dollars poaching foreign players, including Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo.

The kingdom’s Ministry of Sport announced two other soccer team acquisitions on Thursday: The Al-Zulfi club was sold to Riyadh-based Nojoom AlSalam Co. and Medina-based Al-Ansar was acquired by Awdah Al Biladi and his Sons Contracting Ltd.

Playing off the annual pro tennis tournament it co-sponsors in Washington, D.C., Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala sovereign wealth fund convened a business forum this week to explore how governments can stimulate economic growth through investment in sports and bolstering use of artificial intelligence.

The event, which took place on the sidelines of the Mubadala Citi DC Open, was organized with the Los Angeles-based Milken Institute think tank and drew participants from politics, business and sports, including U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.

Michael Milken, the billionaire finance guru and Chairman of the Milken Institute, joined discussions at the conference with Homaid Al Shimmari, Deputy Group CEO of Mubadala, and Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser. Also participating was Mark Ein, Owner of the Mubadala Citi DC Tennis Open, Partner in the NFL’s Washington Commanders and CEO and Founder of security firm Kastle Systems.

A key theme in the discussions, which were off-the-record, was the role of sports in Abu Dhabi’s emergence as a global city and in the urban development of Washington, D.C. Participants also discussed the UAE’s trillion-dollar economic partnership with the U.S., the need for public-private cooperation in AI, and strategies to ensure that technological advances benefit all sectors of society.

Al Shimmari said Mubadala is seeking to play a greater role in the city beyond tennis and funding by introducing educational, art and youth development programs. “Our time here also enabled important conversations – like those with the Milken Institute – on investment, economic growth, and the role of sport in unlocking opportunity,” Al Shimmari told The Circuit.

Among the business participants at the forum were Talal Al Kaissi, Group Chief Global Affairs Officer at Abu Dhabi’s G42 technology company; David Scott, Chief Strategy and Safety Officer at Abu Dhabi investment firm MGX; and Mitchell Rales, Co-Founder and Chairman of Washington, D.C.-based Danaher Corp., and a limited partner in the Commanders.

Several players at the tennis tournament joined the discussions, including Frances Tiafoe and Reilly Opelka from the U.S., Australia’s Nick Kyrgios and Eugenie Bouchard from Canada.

The UAE is eager to push ahead with the joint development plan on artificial intelligence that U.S. President Donald Trump announced during his visit to Abu Dhabi in May.

In a message on X posted Wednesday, UAE Ambassador to the U.S. Yousef Al Otaiba noted his country’s pledge for $1.4 trillion in investments focusing on American AI infrastructure, semiconductors, energy and manufacturing.

“The UAE welcomes President Trump’s AI Action Plan and is ready to fast-track our strategic AI partnership with the U.S.,” Al Otaiba wrote. “We are collaboratively setting a new ‘Gold Standard’ for securing AI models, chips, data and access.”

The ambassador called attention to the planned UAE-U.S. AI campus that UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed displayed to Trump, which will be able to provide a massive 5 gigawatts of power for AI data centers.

Also highlighted by Al Otaiba was a partnership deal agreed upon by Abu Dhabi’s G42 tech company, Oracle and the Cleveland Clinic to launch an AI-based global healthcare delivery platform.

In Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, the government launched its new National Artificial Intelligence Index on Wednesday to measure how agencies perform in terms of AI readiness and use of advanced data-driven technology.

Wio Invest, the app-based platform backed by Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ, has surpassed $1 billion in assets under administration in less than two years, propelled by a new wave of digitally native and financially curious investors in the UAE.

Wio Invest said it has seen more than $4 billion in order volume year-to-date.

The so-called “neobroker” is now among the fastest-growing digital platforms globally and offers simplified access to global markets, ETFs and virtual assets via the Wio Personal app, which is run by related entity Wio Bank.

The platform seamlessly integrates opportunities to invest in UAE ventures, including a tab for taking part in local market IPOs and a partnership with Abu Dhabi alternative investment manager Lunate offering the option to place recurring orders for Lunate Chimera ETFs.

Customers have shown a strong interest in U.S. tech stocks and crypto.

Saudi Investment Minister Khalid Al Falih is leading a trade delegation to Syria that touched down in Damascus on Wednesday with the goal of signing some $4 billion in deals.

At least 120 investors and a cross-section of Saudi officials are part of the group that aims to jumpstart business and assist in Syria’s economic recovery after 14 years of civil war, Arab News reports.

With a meeting between Al Falih and Syrian Economy Minister Mohammad Nidal Al Shaar on the agenda, the delegation was also scheduled to participate in a Syrian-Saudi investment forum and witness the launch of a large cement factory on the outskirts of Damascus. 

Syria’s new President Ahmed Al Sharaa traveled to Riyadh in February for talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that included plans for cooperation in the fields of energy, technology, education and health.

The Saudi Embassy in Damascus announced the introduction on Tuesday of special travel permits enabling business people and investors to visit each other’s countries and stimulate economic engagement.

Qatar has officially entered the race to host the 2036 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani, President of the Qatar Olympic Committee, said competing for the games will build on the country’s success as the first Middle Eastern nation to host the FIFA World Cup soccer championship in 2022.

Having established prominence in international sports as a “central pillar of our national strategy,” Sheikh Joaan said Qatar already has 95% of the required infrastructure in place to become the first Middle East nation to host the Olympics.

Also competing for the 2036 games are India, Turkey, Chile and Indonesia.

Dubai-based jeweler Damas, which operates almost 150 stores across the Gulf, is being acquired by Titan, an Indian maker of fashion accessories.

Under terms of the $283 million deal announced in Mumbai, Damas will sell a 67% stake in the company to Titan, which is a unit of Indian conglomerate Tata.

Titan said it will make the acquisition through Signature Jewellery Holding, which is registered in the Dubai International Financial Centre.

Meanwhile, the Financial Times reports on how China has become dominant in the market for lab-grown diamonds, using established trading hubs such as Dubai and Antwerp as intermediaries to retail stores.

Emirates Group has launched a global talent drive to support expansion, with plans to hire 17,300 people across 350 different roles this year.

Recruits are being sought across Emirates airline and the dnata ground-handling unit, from cabin crew, pilots and engineers to IT, human resources and finance roles.

The company, which already has a 121,000-strong workforce, will host open days and other recruitment events across 150 cities including the UAE, The National reports.

Emirates airline posted its third consecutive year of record profits last year, with a post-tax profit of AED19.1billion ($5.2 billion) for the year ended in March.

It paid out a generous 22-week bonus to eligible employees following the result.