The Middle East could rapidly become the next major frontier for artificial intelligence, and U.S. tech giants are lining up to cash in. In what Wedbush analysts are calling a “watershed moment” for Big Tech, recent developments in the region mean the AI boom might be rapidly shifting its center of gravity.
A wave of investment in AI infrastructure across Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates is signaling an acceleration in U.S. tech companies’ expansion abroad. According to a Monday note from analysts led by Dan Ives, the region is poised to become one of the most important global markets for AI over the next decade, potentially adding over $1 trillion.
“We believe the market opportunity in Saudi Arabia and UAE alone could over time add another $1 trillion to the broader global AI market in the coming years,” the note said, “and this dynamic is not being priced into the market and tech names in our view.”
Wedbush wrote that it is becoming “crystal clear” that the “AI Revolution has found its next major area of penetration…the Middle East.”
This inflection point comes on the heels of President Donald Trump’s recent high-profile visit to Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, which focused heavily on U.S. involvement in the region’s ambitious AI infrastructure plans. Among the standout deals: Humain, a Saudi-backed AI startup, announced it will deploy 18,000 of Nvidia’s (NVDA) cutting-edge AI chips to power a 500-megawatt data center — one of the largest of its kind.
“[That announcement] is the start of a new era of growth for the US tech sector and a gamechanger for the industry,” the note said. “Riyadh and UAE will be a major buyer of AI chips, software, autonomous/robotics, and datacenters over the next decade.”
For decades, the Gulf region has leveraged its oil wealth to diversify into new markets: finance, tourism, and energy-transition technologies. But this focus on AI might mark its most ambitious pivot yet. Governments in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi aren’t just buying chips — they’re buying a future in which the Middle East becomes a global AI hub.
At the core of this strategy is a growing alliance between Gulf governments and U.S. technology companies. Nvidia, Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOGL), Palantir (PLTR), and Tesla (TSLA) are all positioning themselves in the region to be key players in what could be full-throttle AI buildout.
The sharp pivot to the Middle East comes amid tensions between the U.S. and China. While Saudi Arabia is rolling out the red carpet for Nvidia’s latest-generation chips, China is seeing growing restrictions even on underpowered GPUs such as the H20, as the U.S. attempts to restrain the country’s domestic AI ambitions.
This divergence is shaping up to be a central theme in the larger AI race. Wedbush characterized the Trump administration’s positioning as a “global game of high-stakes poker” to isolate China while turbocharging U.S. influence in the Gulf through technology.
“China is clearly taking notice and this adds to the drama of the broader US/China tariff/trade talks over the coming months,” Wedbush said.
The note said these developments are a “bullish indicator that further shows the US tech’s lead in this 4th Industrial Revolution.”
And at the center of it all is Nvidia — and the “Godfather of AI,” as Wedbush calls CEO Jensen Huang — cementing its position not just as a hardware company, but as a geopolitical force shaping the future of artificial intelligence.
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