Saudi Arabia’s quest to buy as many as 48 F-35 stealth fighter jets from Lockheed Martin is picking up traction amid White House preparations for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Nov. 18 visit to the White House.

On its way to final approval, the deal cleared a critical hurdle when it recently received a green light from the Pentagon, Reuters reports. U.S. officials noted that the proposed sale still must be fully confirmed by the Trump administration with a formal notification to Congress.

Before delivery of the world’s most advanced fighter jets can be made to the Gulf kingdom, lawmakers have the authority to block or amend the deal, which is expected to draw scrutiny given regional sensitivities and human rights concerns.

Saudi Arabia has sought the F-35s as part of a broader effort to modernize its armed forces and replace aging aircraft. The request comes amid shifting regional alliances and increasing security coordination between Washington and the Gulf states, including the UAE and Qatar.

The F-35 boasts stealth capabilities that reduce radar visibility, though any Gulf sale would likely involve modifications or restrictions because U.S. policy requires that Israel, which first purchased the F35s in 2016, retain a “qualitative military edge” in the region, according to Reuters.

In a powerful bet on the UAE’s digital future, Microsoft is pouring $15.2 billion into the Gulf state and deepening its partnership with Abu Dhabi’s growing artificial intelligence firm G42.

Having already invested $7.3 billion in the UAE since 2023, Microsoft President Brad Smith announced on Monday that the Seattle, Wash., tech giant will spend an additional $7.9 billion through 2029.

The money will fund advanced artificial intelligence, cloud infrastructure, data centers, and local operations aimed at expanding the UAE’s digital economy, Smith told the ADIPEC conference in Abu Dhabi.

“We believe in moving fast while staying grounded and being transparent about our investment details,” Smith said in a Microsoft blog post.

Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, meanwhile, the UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and ADIPEC’s official host, has been appointed the Chief Executive Officer of XRG, the international investment arm of national energy company ADNOC.

Al Jaber was already XRG’s Executive Chairman before formally taking the CEO title, following the retirement of Khaled Salmeen, XRG’s former Chief Operating Officer, Bloomberg reports.

Al Jaber is also Group CEO of ADNOC, Chairman of renewable energy firm Masdar and he served as President of the U.N.’s COP28 climate conference that was hosted by the UAE two years ago.

French automaker Renault signed an agreement to produce electric vehicles in Morocco starting 2030 as it seeks to expand exports to African markets.

The company, which operates plants in Tangier and near Casablanca, produced 413,000 vehicles in 2024, 90% of which were exported under the “Made in Morocco” label, Arabian Gulf Business Insight reports.

The deal is expected to create about 7,500 jobs and add a new EV line to Renault’s existing models.

Rival Stellantis runs a factory in Kenitra, while China’s Gotion High Tech plans to build a battery plant in the country.

ADIPEC, the UAE’s annual gathering of leaders in the global energy industry, got underway in Abu Dhabi on Monday, with CEOs from BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil and TotalEnergies sharing the stage with Microsoft and other tech giants as artificial intelligence becomes central to the energy transition. 

The conference, which runs through Thursday at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, will also spotlight sustainability, hydrogen, carbon capture and geopolitics, reflecting how energy markets are evolving beyond oil and gas production. ADNOC, Masdar and XRG convened 100 global technology, investment and government leaders at the “Enact Majlis” ahead of ADIPEC to emphasize the intersection of energy and AI, The National reports.

Hosting the event is Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, who serves as UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and also heads ADNOC and Abu Dhabi-owned renewables firm Masdar. Among the top tech executives in attendance is Brad Smith, President of Microsoft, which recently invested $1.5 billion in Abu Dhabi AI firm G42. ADNOC and Microsoft announced a new agreement on Sunday to integrate artificial intelligence throughout the UAE company’s operations and support Microsoft’s global AI and data center expansion. 

Pointing to volatility in the oil market, where prices have plummeted 33% in the past two years, Al Jaber called for massive spending on data centers and artificial intelligence, reckoning that investments from the global energy industry should reach $4 trillion a year. Near-term uncertainty is real, while long-term demand remains strong,” Al Jaber said. “Our response to meet that demand should focus on data, not the drama.”

Also in Abu Dhabi, Amos Hochstein, Managing Partner at TWG Global, and formerly Deputy  Assistant  to  the President and Senior  Advisor for Energy & Investment in the Biden administration, said in an interview with CNBC that the U.S. “needs billions” in power‑infrastructure investment to modernize and secure its energy systems.

UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, meanwhile, met on Saturday with Doug Burgum, Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior and Chairman of the National Energy Dominance Council, who came to attend ADIPEC 2025. Burgum and Under Secretary of State Jacob Helberg took a tour of the UAE’s Upper Zakum oil field on Sunday.

Saudi Arabia and the International Olympic Committee have “mutually” ended a deal to jointly hold the Olympic Esports Games.

Instead, the IOC and the kingdom will pursue their own esports ambitions separately, Bloomberg reports.

The 12-year agreement, signed last year, was supposed to see Saudi Arabia host the inaugural Esports Olympics, a part of its ambition to be a global hub for gaming.

The kingdom held its second Esports World Cup over the summer, attracting more than 2,000 professional players from over 100 countries, and its Public Investment Fund has since signed a blockbuster $55 billion deal to take gaming company Electronic Arts private.

Humain, the AI startup backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, is planning to launch a voice-controlled computer operating system this week.

Humain 1 was created as an alternative to the mouse or touch-based systems, predominantly Windows and macOS, which have been used to operate personal computers in various forms since the 1980s.

“Rather than looking at icons where you click for discrete applications, now you (…) speak your intent,” Humain CEO Tareq Amin said at the Fortune Global Forum in Riyadh.

Humain has been testing the operating system internally for its own payroll and Human Resources systems, Reuters reports.

At the palatial Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh’s diplomatic quarter on Monday, Saudi Arabia’s ninth Future Investment Initiative conference kicked off with a soft launch billed as Day Zero.

Organizers of the annual event, underwritten by the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund, set the first day aside for what they described as “exclusive, invitation-only conclaves, convening the world’s foremost investors, CEOs, and policymakers for unscripted dialogue.”

On Tuesday, doors open at the neighboring King Abdulaziz International Convention Center, where more than 6,000 registrants will spend three days networking between speeches by government leaders and corporate titans.

Headliners at the conference include Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman, JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon, Ruth Porat, of Alphabet and Google, Jane Fraser of Citi, Ray Dalio of Bridgewater Associates, Larry Fink of BlackRock, Stephen Schwarzman of Blackstone and Masayoshi Son of SoftBank.

Saudi leaders on the schedule include PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman and Amin H. Nasser, President and CEO of Aramco. As in previous years, whether and when Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will speak is the conference’s biggest guessing game.

Among political figures coming from abroad are Syria’s new President, Ahmed Al-Sharaa; China’s Vice President Han Zheng; Shehbaz Sharif, the Prime Minister of Pakistan; Paul Kagame, the President of Rwanda, Rachel Reeves, the U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike.