Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) has invested $3.2 billion in AI technologies, including $1 billion in 2022, Reuters has revealed.
Reuters quoted chief NEOM executive chief Joseph Bradley as saying that NEOM Tech & Digital, a subsidiary of the $500 billion signature NEOM project of the Saudi crown prince, has invested $1 billion in 2022 in AI, including a metaverse platform
Tomonus has already invested $1 billion on the metaverse and other AI applications in 2022, another $1 billion in the connectivity network, and an additional $1.2 billion in venture capital and entrepreneurship, Bradley added.
Saudi economy is far from reality
US Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said that Saudi success in transforming its society and its economy is far from guaranteed. Much can go wrong, and certainly much will go wrong.
According to the center, there remains a huge concentration of power at the center, and that will both help and hurt Saudi reform efforts.
“But two things seem worth considering. The first is that the problems that Saudi Arabia is facing are genuine problems, and interesting ones. What the Saudis are trying to do is hard, and there is no obvious pathway to success. They are open to advice from outside, and they will need it, even while responsibility still rests with them.”
And for all that Western commentary sees Saudi reform efforts as a tightly orchestrated top-down process, in practice it is a chaotic jumble, CSIS added.
Along the same line, the Center for Family Research (CFR) said that Saudi Arabia has the largest oil reserves in the world, giving it influence over what Americans pay at the gas pump.
At the same time, the kingdom’s human rights abuses are at odds with the United States’ stated democratic values.
Who holds the power in this partnership? And what compromises are being made so the countries can work together? the US center asks.
MBS' fake projects
Meanwhile, Axios revealed that Saudi Arabia's government-funded gaming conglomerate The Savvy Gaming Group will invest $37.8 billion in gaming as part of a controversial effort to expand the kingdom's role in the sector.
Savvy has earmarked more than $13 billion “for the acquisition and development of a leading game publisher to become a strategic development partner,” according to the kingdom's press agency.
Another $18 billion is pegged for minority investments.
Savvy's efforts are expected to establish 250 game companies and create 39,000 jobs, the press agency noted.
The investments are the first decision announced by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman since being appointed as PM.
Social media outrage
A state of anger has prevailed on social media platforms in protest against MBS' heavy spending on fake projects.
Lisa Cornwell said on Twitter: that Hard to say, but my gut tells me they’ll be gone in 5 yrs. While the Saudis/MBS may be fine to whitewash their record forever by sponsoring events in Formula One, gaming, @LETgolf, etc… I don’t think they want to run global tours.
That’s a massive undertaking for the long haul.
For his part, the British journalist Bill Law tweeted: You may ask why is a Saudi charity controlled y MbS buying a gaming company? “Saudi Arabian charity Misk acquires 33.3% stake in SNK”
