Nvidia’s stock jumped 5.6% on Tuesday following news that former U.S. President Donald Trump secured significant AI investment deals with Saudi Arabia. The agreements will direct tens of billions of dollars into joint U.S.-Saudi technology projects. Despite this surge, Nvidia’s stock remains down 4.5% for the year due to ongoing U.S.-China tensions and China’s launch of its DeepSeek AI platform.
At a summit in Riyadh, Trump brought together leading U.S. tech CEOs, including Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, Elon Musk of Tesla, and Sam Altman from OpenAI. Saudi Arabia pledged $600 billion in investments in the U.S., with $80 billion focused specifically on emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence. The White House also confirmed a $142 billion defense sale as part of the broader partnership. Trump announced plans to remove sanctions on Syria to improve regional ties and is set to meet leaders from Qatar and the UAE later this week to expand economic cooperation.
Nvidia will expand its footprint in Saudi Arabia through a partnership with HUMAIN, an AI company backed by the Saudi Public Investment Fund. Nvidia will supply 18,000 Grace Blackwell chips for a long-term AI infrastructure project. HUMAIN aims to build AI factories with up to 500 megawatts of power capacity to support robotics and cloud computing systems. The Saudi Data and AI Authority signed a deal to deploy 5,000 Nvidia Blackwell GPUs for smart city initiatives and sovereign AI applications. Aramco Digital will work alongside Nvidia to boost Saudi Arabia’s domestic AI development capabilities.
Saudi Arabia, which relies heavily on oil exports, is seeking to diversify its economy by attracting $100 billion in foreign investment annually. The country is committed to its Vision 2030 plan, which aims to turn the Kingdom into a global technology and innovation center. Bloomberg also reported that the UAE may import over one million Nvidia chips in a deal supported by Trump’s administration. Other major companies such as AMD, Amazon, Cisco, and OpenAI announced AI projects based in Saudi Arabia during the summit.
The U.S. Commerce Department officially reversed Biden-era AI export controls on Tuesday. The previous rule, scheduled to start May 15, aimed to block exports of advanced chips to China. Trump’s administration is working to expand AI trade globally with trusted allies while still limiting Chinese access to sensitive U.S. technologies. Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which were restricted under Biden’s policy, now benefit from renewed tech cooperation agreements.
The Bureau of Industry and Security issued new guidelines to tighten export controls on shipments to China. Officials said Biden’s export restrictions had hindered U.S. innovation and weakened global competitiveness. The shift is seen as a crucial step in reestablishing U.S. leadership in AI development. The administration plans an aggressive AI expansion strategy balanced with national security protections.
