The three most influential Gulf states—Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar—are investing hundreds of billions in artificial intelligence. The Emiratis were early movers, staking out a national strategy for AI and naming a minister of state for artificial intelligence in 2017. In Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has framed Riyadh’s push into AI around his broader Vision 2030 reform project, though it was not mentioned in the original document. A Saudi Data and AI Authority was created in 2019 and announced a strategy for the technology in 2020, but the Public Investment Fund only set up an AI company called Humain in 2025. Saudi Aramco has been nimbler than the investment fund, however, leveraging the technology for its operations for longer. Qatar established an AI committee in 2021, but Doha was too busy investing in the media, universities, and lobbying in Washington to do much with the technology. Doha did not get serious about artificial intelligence until late last year, when the Qatar Investment Authority established Qatar’s national AI company, Qai.

These investments make sense, given AI’s rapid development and the widespread belief that artificial intelligence will radically transform economies and societies in ways that were previously only the stuff of Hollywood. Because Saudi, Emirati, and Qatari leaders are seeking to diversify their economies, which have long been dependent on hydrocarbons, it follows that they regard AI as a critical means to their post-oil and gas futures.

The three most influential Gulf states—Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar—are investing hundreds of billions in artificial intelligence. The Emiratis were early movers, staking out a national strategy for AI and naming a minister of state for artificial intelligence in 2017. In Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has framed Riyadh’s push into AI around his broader Vision 2030 reform project, though it was not mentioned in the original document. A Saudi Data and AI Authority was created in 2019 and announced a strategy for the technology in 2020, but the Public Investment Fund only set up an AI company called Humain in 2025. Saudi Aramco has been nimbler than the investment fund, however, leveraging the technology for its operations for longer. Qatar established an AI committee in........

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