Technology

The headquarters of SpaceX in Hawthorne, California, with a Falcon 9 booster in March 2024.

Explainer

Saudi investors could emerge as key winners from SpaceX’s historic IPO

A new disclosure from Saudi Arabia's Kingdom Holding ahead of SpaceX’s Nasdaq debut shows just how valuable Elon Musk's relationship with Gulf investors has become.

An Iranian woman walks past a mobile phone shop at the Valiasr Square in Tehran on April 19, 2026.

Iran partially restores internet after 88-day blackout: What to know

The move comes after a nearly three-month internet blackout, marking it as one of the longest outages ever.

Haitham AL-SHUKAIRI / AFP via Getty Images

Oman enters Gulf AI race with new special economic zone in Muscat

Oman will create an AI-focused special economic zone in Muscat governorate.

Flag of Iran on a computer binary codes falling from the top and fading away.

Who is Handala, the hacktivist group US ties to Iranian intelligence?

Handala Hack Team portrays itself as a pro-Palestinian group but is widely believed to be linked to Iranian intelligence.

Latest News

Iran names US tech, finance firms in new Middle East threat list

People sit in a cafe outside the Apple Store in Dubai on May 8, 2025.

Gulf AI deals continues to lure investors despite US-Iran war

FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Iran’s longest-ever internet blackout leaves 99% offline: What to know

Traffic rolls along a main throughfare under a banner with images of past and present leaders that reads in Farsi, "Domino fall", as daily life returns to the streets following nationwide protests, in the Iranian capital Tehran on January 19, 2026. Demonstrations sparked in late December by anger over economic hardship exploded into protests widely seen as the biggest challenge to the Iranian leadership in years. Limited internet access briefly returned in Iran before dropping again, a monitor said January

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

What we know about UAE blocking X accounts accused of misinformation

Attendees take a picture of French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe as he delivers a speech during a visit to the Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum on February 10, 2018, on Saadiyat island in the Emirati capital, to launch the French-Emirati "Year of Cultural Dialogue". (Photo by KARIM SAHIB / AFP) (Photo by KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty Images)

United Arab Emirates

In Abu Dhabi, UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed meets with HE Chen Min’er, member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party and Communist Party secretary of Tianjin, to discusses prospects of increasing bilateral cooperation under the framework of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, Sept. 4, 2024. Credit: UAE Foreign Ministry

Analysis

How UAE-China ties expand around Tianjin chief visit, ADNOC deal

Diplomatic and business traffic is gaining steam between Dubai and Beijing after a first-of-its-kind think-tank forum, a high-level welcome for a Tianjin official to the UAE, and a major deal with ADNOC this week.

Joyce Karam

King Abdullah Centre

Middle East fintech funding sees 650% spike in 2020-2023

Fintech is one of the most funded and transacted industries across the MENA region, according to a MAGNiTT report, accounting for 24% of all venture investment in the region in the first half of 2024.

MUNICH, GERMANY - JANUARY 24: Pavel Durov of Vkontakte speaks during the Digital Life Design conference (DLD) at HVB Forum on January 24, 2012 in Munich, Germany. ence and culture which connects business, creative and social leaders, opinion-formers and investors for crossover conversation and inspiration. (Photo by Nadine Rupp/Getty Images)

Analysis

Telegram CEO's arrest spotlights UAE’s investment-based citizenship laws

The United Arab Emirates is showing that it takes its citizenship laws seriously and has vowed to fight for Telegram founder Pavel Durov.

Jennifer Gnana

By Jennifer Gnana

In Dubai, reporting on Gulf energy policy and politics

Pavel Durov, CEO and co-founder of Telegram, speaks during day one of TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2015 at Pier 70, San Francisco, Sept. 21, 2015.

UAE asks France for 'urgent' consular services to arrested citizen Telegram’s Durov

Russian-born Pavel Durov has been a resident of the UAE since 2017 and a citizen of the Gulf state since 2021.

United Arab Emirates

Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (C), who was recently named to head the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, looks at a model of the Capital City District project.

Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala invests in UK cloud data center developer Yondr

It marks Mubadala’s third major investment in cloud data centers in three years, as the wealth fund looks to cash in on the ballooning demand for data center infrastructure.

United Arab Emirates

PEDRO PARDO/AFP via Getty Images

Saudi PIF signs deals worth up to $50B with six Chinese institutions

As one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds, the $925 billion Saudi PIF is already heavily invested in China.

Empty baggage trucks are seen by a Turkish airlines Boeing 777, Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Jan. 11, 2023.

Turkish Airlines cancels 84 flights amid global IT outage

The Turkish transportation minister said the government expects the disruption to end “within hours.”

Google reportedly offers $23B for Israeli cybersecurity firm Wiz

Israel's Wiz is one of the world’s fastest-growing startups, having reached $350 million annual recurring revenue last year, and provides services to more than 40% of Fortune 100 businesses.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo (L) listens to a speech by United Arab Emirates (UAE) Minister of State for Foreign Trade Thani Ahmed Al Zeyoudi (R) during the inauguration of the newly built floating solar power plant on the water that can generate 192 mega watts of peak electricity in cooperation between the Indonesian government and Masdar from the UAE, at Cirata Reservoir, West Java, on November 9, 2023. (Photo by BAY ISMOYO / AFP) (Photo by BAY ISMOYO/AFP via Getty Images)

Interview

G42-Microsoft partnership in Kenya 'just the beginning,' says UAE trade minister

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Dr. Thani Ahmed Al Zeyoudi discusses momentum in UAE trade with the US, the benefits of economic diversification and Africa’s priority in UAE trade policy.

Dr. Thani Ahmed Al Zeyoudi

Dr. Thani Ahmed Al Zeyoudi

UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade

NVIDIA's founder and CEO Jensen Huang.

NVIDIA to deploy AI across Middle East amid increasing US-China tech tensions

It was reported in August 2023 that Washington planned to curb exports of some AI microchips from NVIDIA, as well as from Advanced Micro Devices, beyond China to some unspecified Middle Eastern countries.

UAE National Security Advisor Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan meets Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates in Seattle on June 7, 2024.

Analysis

With China rivalry in mind, UAE's Sheikh Tahnoon hits tech reset in US visit

Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the United Arab Emirates’ national security adviser and an influential brother of the country’s president, visited Washington this month.

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

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

US reportedly slows AI chip exports to Mideast as Saudi Arabia turns to China

Washington has further restricted imports of critical components for AI systems to certain countries, including some undisclosed ones in the Middle East.