Technology

Bellieud

Interview

Al-Futtaim targets 2026 UAE rollout for game-changer ultrafast EV charging

The technology, which has only been deployed in China, will enable up to 400 kilometers of car recharging in five minutes, roughly the same time as filling a petrol tank.

Lucas Bellieud

Al-Futtaim Electric Mobility Managing Director

EA office building in Austin, Texas, USA.

Gaming giant Electronic Arts taken private in $55B Saudi-backed buyout

The transaction represents a significant deal involving entities close to the Saudi Arabian and US governments.

Analysis

Gulf investors emerge as key players in US social media giants TikTok, Snap, X

With UAE tech investor MGX set to take a stake in TikTok's US operations, investors from the Middle East could cement their role in America's social media landscape.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

PayPal headquarters pictured in San Jose, California, on Oct. 15, 2015.

PayPal bets $100M as Middle East’s Gulf fintech giants amplify competition

The move from the US payments giant comes amid a flurry of activity that has further cemented the Gulf’s fintech sector on the map for global investors — including Saudi Arabia's Tamara, which recently secured a $2.4 billion financing deal.

United Arab Emirates

Latest News

Google Pay, China’s Alipay+ launch in Saudi Arabia amid cashless push

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

China-made flying car makes first test flight in UAE: What to know

An Xpeng AeroHT X2 Flying Car is seen on display in Hong Kong on May 17, 2024

United Arab Emirates

Lebanon grants license to Musk's Starlink in bid to address sluggish telecomms

Ray of sun over the box and antenna during Unbox reliable data transmission and connection with SpaceXs Starlink.

Iran eyes launch of 4 satellites, open Chabahar space port by spring 2026

A picture obtained on Dec. 14, 2013 from Iran's ISNA news agency allegedly shows the launch of the Pajohesh (research) rocket containing a live space monkey named Fargam (Auspicious) at an undisclosed location in Iran.

Kanopus-V satellite

Iran to acquire Russian high-resolution recon satellite

Russia is set to give Iran a satellite that could spy on Tehran's potential military targets.

A picture taken on Jan. 13, 2020, during a press tour organized by the US-led coalition fighting the remnants of the Islamic State, shows a US soldier walking past a drone at the Ain al-Asad air base in the western Iraqi province of Anbar.

US air defenses shoot down drones near Iraq air base

Drones were intercepted and brought down near the air base that hosts US forces.

Toukh derailment

Can modernization of Egypt’s railway network avert train accidents?

Egypt signed an agreement worth 145 million euros ($177 million) with the African Development Bank as part of its recent plan to improve its railway system to prevent crashes.

Google sign

Israel to get own cloud in deals with Amazon, Google

In a bold move, Israel has signed a series of contracts with Amazon Web Services and Google to provide the government with cloud services.

An illustration photo shows the application Clubhouse on a smartphone in Berlin, Jan. 25, 2021.

Is Muslim Brotherhood using Clubhouse app to mobilize Egyptian support?

Many security sources and social media activists fear the Muslim Brotherhood could exploit the Clubhouse app to promote its ideas and recruit new operatives in Egypt.

A NASA security helicopter flies past the Vehicle Assembly Building on launch day at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, United States, May 26, 2020.

NASA engineer from Gaza following escalation with concern

Loay Elbasyouni, who grew up in the Gaza Strip and attended UNRWA schools, helped design the first NASA helicopter that hovered over Mars in March 2021.

Saudi women attend the Gitex 2018 exhibition at the Dubai World Trade Center in Dubai on Oct. 16, 2018. Gitex (Gulf Information Technology Exhibition) is a consumer computer and electronics trade show.

Saudi Arabia buys into e-commerce

A crown prince bent on modernization, young and tech-savvy consumers, and a global pandemic are transforming commerce in the desert kingdom.

DONT USE - Gulf Pulse

Abu Walid warms his living room with a pistachio-powered heater in Tal al-Karama village, in northwestern province of Idlib, Syria, Dec. 6, 2019.

Idlib residents resort to virtual coins to make ends meet

Residents of the city of Idlib in northwestern Syria have resorted to digital currency to make some money by using only a cellphone connected to the internet.

President of General Motors Mark Reuss announces that GMs Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly plant will build the all-electric Cruise Origin self-driving shuttle in Hamtramck, Michigan, Jan. 27, 2020.

Dubai to import self-driving cars

Dubai will be the first international market for the US self-driving vehicle company Cruise.

United Arab Emirates

A man walks past tombstones in the poor neighborhood of the City of the Dead, which houses more than half a million people living inside the graveyard, Cairo, Egypt, Dec. 13, 2016.

Egyptians react to new app bringing dead to life

A new application that allows the animation of pictures of the deceased caused controversy among religious institutions in Egypt.

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - FEBRUARY 09: A man reacts as Hope Probe enters the orbit of Mars at Burj Park on February 09, 2021 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. If successful, the UAE's space program would be the fifth to reach the Martian orbit, after the US, Russia, the EU, and India. (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images)

UAE probe reaches Mars' orbit

Hope Probe launched in July and is the first Mars mission conducted by an Arab state.

United Arab Emirates

A member of an Israeli tech delegation uses his phone in a video call during an evening meeting with Emirati counterparts at a hotel in Dubai on October 25, 2020. - Israel and the United Arab Emirates agreed on October 19 to visa-free travel, an unprecedented arrangement between Israel and an Arab state, signed after the first ever official UAE delegation landed in Tel Aviv. (Photo by Karim SAHIB / AFP) (Photo by KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty Images)

Emirati investors highly interested in Israeli high-tech, agro-tech

According to estimates, $1 billion in investments between Israel and the United Arab Emirates were made in the last two months of 2020.

United Arab Emirates