Aramco Ventures, a VC arm of Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company, is opening an office in Paris to oversee hundreds of millions of dollars worth of investments in artificial intelligence planned across Europe.

While heavy red-tape has hindered Europe’s ability to compete on the scale of the U.S. and China, it has produced some successful AI startups, including Paris-based Mistral, a maker of large language models, which counts Sanabil, the tech arm of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, among its investors.

Ahmad O. Al-Khowaiter, Aramco’s Executive Vice President of Technology and Innovation, highlighted Aramco’s growing collaborations with French companies and plans for deeper investment in next-generation technologies across Europe at the Adopt AI International Summit in Paris this week.

On Sunday, French quantum computing start-up Pasqal installed its most powerful system at Aramco’s datacenter in Dhahran.

Another part of Aramco’s VC arm, Wa’ed Ventures, was an early backer in Pasqal’s 2023 funding round and has been working with the company to adapt its technology to the kingdom’s industrial needs.

“This will expand quantum computing expertise in the region, and accelerate quantum applications in the energy, materials, and industrial sectors,” Al-Khowaiter said. “We are committed to our partnerships here, and also to the infectious spirit of innovation that surrounds the French tech industry.”

Abu Dhabi’s state oil company ADNOC is moving ahead with a $150 billion capital spending plan for the next five years aimed at boosting growth and meeting rising global energy demand.

During a meeting in Abu Dhabi on Monday, which was chaired by UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, the company’s board approved its 2026-2030 spending program, noting that its oil reserves have grown to 120 billion stock tank barrels, up from 113 billion. Natural gas reserves have also increased.

ADNOC is focused on “leveraging advanced technologies and AI to future-proof our business,” Group CEO Dr. Sultan Al Jaber told the board. “We will continue to transform how we create value at speed and scale, driving a new era of intelligence-powered performance, operating at the intersection of AI and energy, to deliver growth for the UAE.”

ADNOC reported that its investment arm, XRG, has grown in value to about $151 billion since its November 2024 launch and will target global deals in chemicals, natural gas, and renewables as part of the UAE’s energy diversification efforts.

The board also approved a new operating company for its Ghasha offshore concession, which is expected to produce 1.8 billion cubic feet of gas and 150,000 barrels of oil and condensates per day.

Two new liquor stores are under construction in the cities of Jeddah and Dammam as Saudi Arabia further eases restrictions on alcohol in a bid to draw more foreign talent to reside in the kingdom, Reuters reports.

It comes after reports that the country’s only sanctioned liquor store, in Riyadh, is now allowing a larger group of foreign residents to make purchases.

Non-Muslims holding a permit under the Premium Residency program, which grants visas to entrepreneurs, investors, property owners and talented individuals, are now allowed to purchase alcohol in the store, which was previously reserved for diplomats.

Loosening rules around alcohol has been a delicate task for the Saudi leadership, which has attempted to appease conservatives by cracking down on nightclubs known as “lounges” in recent months. 

Providing dependable internet connections is the latest battleground in competition between Gulf airlines.

The rivalry on international routes between Emirates and Qatar Airways is being stoked by the increased availability of Starlink, the low-orbit satellite network developed by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Arabian Gulf Business Insight reports.

While the Qatar carrier has already equipped more than 100 of its long-haul aircraft with Starlink’s service, Dubai-based Emirates is trying to catch up with a new fleet-wide rollout of Starlink that will enable streaming videos, playing video games and making voice calls simultaneously.

Budget airline Flydubai, meanwhile, is preparing to offer Starlink’s high-speed WiFi as a standard feature rather than a premium perk.

Property developers in the UAE are raising billions through bonds and private credit to take advantage of the ongoing real estate boom, as banks tighten lending to private developers.

Dollar bond and sukuk issuances have grown more than 12 times to $6 billion since 2021, Bloomberg reports.

Heavyweight developers Emaar, Aldar and DAMAC, as well as emerging names like Sharjah’s Arada, have been regularly issuing Islamic bonds as they compete to buy prime land.

The rise in issuances has seen maturities due by 2030 grow to about $8 billion and some analysts are now flagging risks from the boom-time spending.

Abu Dhabi’s Lunate investment firm is spearheading a new push to bolster the UAE’s global position in developing artificial intelligence technology.

The two-year-old Abu Dhabi asset manager is now considering a possible investment of up to $1 billion in MGX, which was established last year by the Mubadala sovereign wealth fund and its G42 tech unit to channel money into AI, Bloomberg reports.

Lunate, which works with many of the world’s largest firms including BlackRock, Blackstone, CVC Capital Partners and Brookfield Asset Management, raised about $17 billion in 2024, of which it has already invested about $13.5 billion, the news agency said.

Among its largest backers are Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ and Chimera Investment, which are both led by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, the UAE National Security Advisor and Deputy Ruler of Abu Dhabi.

The UAE government, meanwhile, announced a $1 billion “AI for development” initiative at the G20 summit in Johannesburg to expand AI infrastructure across Africa, and integrate the technology into education, agriculture, health care and climate adaptation.

Riyadh Air is finally getting ready for takeoff, promising to run the first commercial passenger flights to London Heathrow in its snazzy blue aircraft before April next year.

Saudi Arabia’s new national airline, owned by the Public Investment Fund, postponed its launch because of a yearlong delay in the delivery of eight Boeing 787 aircraft. Now that four of the planes have arrived, Riyadh Air will start flying to London and Dubai, with five other destinations to follow, CEO Tony Douglas told The National.

“Early in the new year we will be up and running,” Douglas said in an interview with the Abu Dhabi newspaper on the sidelines of the Dubai Airshow.

Riyadh Air, part of Saudi Arabia’s effort to return an air of chic to international travel, unveiled the couture-influenced uniforms worn by its flight attendants on a Paris runway last year. Last month, the airline started flights to Heathrow that were limited to employees of Riyadh Air and the PIF, as well as select guests.

Flydubai, meanwhile, announced it will introduce a three-class layout on its Boeing 787 planes, operating business class, economy and premium economy sections starting in 2027.

Speculation is growing over the role of Gulf sovereign wealth funds in Paramount’s bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, despite the media and entertainment company attempting to throw cold water on the rumors.

Paramount is seen as the favorite among a cohort of potential suitors, including Netflix and Comcast, which are preparing bids for the entertainment conglomerate, which owns iconic brands including CNN, HBO and DC Comics.

Variety reported on Tuesday that the Ellison family, which owns 100% of Paramount Skydance, was putting together a $71 billion bid with backing from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the Qatar Investment Authority and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

Paramount responded by saying the information in the report was “categorically inaccurate.” However, the Financial Times reported that Paramount held “preliminary talks” with the PIF and other investors about backing the deal separately.