The UAE’s determination to become a world center for AI development is attracting new interest from Asia’s big chipmakers.

Taiwan’s TSMC and South Korea’s Samsung Electronics have discussed building large facilities to manufacture semiconductors in the UAE that could help propel the Gulf state to its goal of recognition as an artificial intelligence power, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Under initial terms being discussed, the projects would be funded by the UAE, with a central role for the Mubadala sovereign wealth fund and state-owned investment company MGX, which is focused on AI technology.

Amid the avalanche of interest in artificial intelligence, UAE-owned G42 has signed a variety of agreements with Microsoft, OpenAI and Nvidia over recent months.

When UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed visits the White House next week, advisers say his focus will be on economic and technology ties, though dipping into the geopolitical conflicts wracking the Middle East is inevitable.

The Emirati leader’s meeting with President Joe Biden will be his first in Washington since assuming the UAE Presidency in May 2022. The two also met at the 2023 G20 summit in New Delhi and in Jeddah the previous year.

Dr. Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to Sheikh Mohammed, said during a briefing in Dubai that the trip, which starts Monday, will be concentrated on economic relations and how to “realign our relationship with America for the next 10 years,” The National reports.

“The main purpose of the visit, from an Emirati perspective, is investing in our future, and that’s through an economic lens and through a real realignment with what’s happening in AI and in technology,” Gargash said.

The sale of a minority stake in the Middle East Starbucks franchise owned by Kuwait’s AlShaya Group, which has drawn interest from Apollo Global Management and other international firms, appears to have been paused.

AlShaya, which owns some 2,000 Starbucks coffee outlets across the MENA region and eastern Europe, has watched the business’s market value dwindle in the face of widespread boycotts against the brand, Reuters reports.

Starbucks, McDonalds, KFC and other U.S. brands have been the target of protests in the region since the Gaza war started almost a year ago because of their perceived ties to Israel even though Starbucks has no outlets in the country.

AlShaya’s coffee business has been valued at between $4 billion and $5 billion, the news agency said.
 

Saudi Arabia’s push to anchor itself as a global financial capital lassoed another Wall Street firm as Lazard Inc. received a government license to establish a regional headquarters in Riyadh.

The authorization by the kingdom’s Ministry of Investment will allow Lazard to compete for government contracts that can be granted only to international companies that comply with the law requiring a substantial presence in Saudi Arabia, Bloomberg reports.

Goldman Sachs became the first major financial institution to get its regional headquarters license in May, while Japan’s Mizuho Financial Group Inc. received the authorization in June.

In the UAE, meanwhile, Stonepeak, a New York-based investment firm with $71 billion in assets, said it will open an office in the Abu Dhabi Global Market, joining a wave of financial firms drawn by the UAE capital’s expanding wealth.

Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Riyadh are among the cities that will likely experience explosive growth over the next two decades because of a proliferation of “centi-millionaires.”

A report by Henley & Partners predicts a 150% increase in the three Gulf financial centers of residents with liquid investable assets of $100 million or more.

There are currently 29,350 centi-millionaires around the world, a figure that has grown by 54% over the last 10 years.

New York’s 744 centi-millionaires represent the world’s largest collection of the super rich, followed by the San Francisco Bay Area with 675 and Los Angeles with 498, according to the report. London ranks fourth with 370 centi-millionaires.

The UAE is teaming up with Microsoft, Nvidia and BlackRock to build data centers with the enormous heft to develop artificial intelligence technology and establish guardrails to protect trade secrets from leaking.

The financial partnership, which BlackRock is launching with its new infrastructure investment unit, Global Infrastructure Partners, would be one of the biggest investment vehicles ever raised on Wall Street, the Financial Times reports.

Microsoft and Mubadala-backed investment company MGX are general partners in the fund while AI chipmaker Nvidia will advise on factory design and integration, according to the FT.

Microsoft and UAE government-owned G42, meanwhile, said they will open two development centers in Abu Dhabi to work on “responsible” AI initiatives. The move comes amid U.S. concerns about deepening Gulf-China ties and potential tech transfers to Beijing.

Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are teaming up to create one of the world’s largest producers of aluminum.

Following a separate deal this week with U.S. industry leader Alcoa, Saudi Arabian Mining Co. – known as Maaden – said on Monday it will sell the share capital of two of its units to Aluminium Bahrain.

In exchange, the Bahraini company, known as Alba, would issue new shares for allotment to Maaden, according to a statement issued by the two companies. The firms, which signed non-binding term documents, also agreed to seek a cross-listing of Alba shares on the Saudi stock exchange, pending regulatory approval.

Maaden and Alba have become major players in the global aluminum industry in recent years, particularly in value-added products that have historically been dominated by a handful of suppliers, Bloomberg reports.

The threat of disruptions to shipments from Russia has caused particular anxiety among buyers in Europe, and Middle Eastern producers have provided an important alternative source of supply, the news agency said.

The UAE and Australia have wrapped up negotiations for a free trade agreement eliminating some 99% of import and export tariffs between the two countries.

Dr. Thani Al Zeyoudi, the UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade, announced the development in a post on X, saying the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, as the pact is called, will  “secure a new era of co-operation and opportunity.”

Dropping fees on non-oil trade will result in estimated savings of $135 million in the first year and $160 million a year once the agreement is fully implemented, Australian Minister of Trade and Tourism Don Farrell said.

Australia exports a range of products to the UAE that include aluminum, coal, steel, meat, nuts, honey and seafood. Besides oil, the UAE sells furniture, copper wire, glass containers and plastic to Australia.