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. Saudi Arabia
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. Iran
Oman enters Gulf AI race with new special economic zone in Muscat Oman will create an AI-focused special economic zone in Muscat governorate. Oman
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. Iran
Analysis Iran’s longest-ever internet blackout leaves 99% offline: What to know By Samuel Wendel In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech
Business & Tech Briefing: Dubai gears up for COP28 By Jack Dutton In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech
What does OpenAI firing Sam Altman mean for the Middle East? Altman was reportedly seeking new investment from the region at the time of his firing and had built relations with Israel and the United Arab Emirates. Legacy: Gulf
Interview Fear shouldn’t overtake rationality in approach to artificial intelligence, says UAE AI minister In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, UAE AI Minister Omar Sultan Al Olama discusses how states should govern the technology and whether fears about machine intelligence are founded. Omar Sultan Al Olama UAE Minister of State
Drones can help fight climate change, says Abu Dhabi environment agency The government department is looking to plant 10 mangroves in Abu Dhabi for every visitor to the COP28 climate conference in Dubai in November. United Arab Emirates
Twitter/X erases thousands of Israel-Hamas posts after EU disinfo warning The 27-nation bloc has also issued similar ultimatums to Meta and TikTok, imploring the companies to take fake posts about the conflict off their social media platforms. Israel
Israel, Azerbaijan announce landmark deal for sale of two satellites Israel Aerospace Industries and Azeri space agency Azercosmos announced the signing of an agreement for the sale of two Israeli-developed satellites. Israel
Israel, Germany sign $3.5B Arrow 3 deal Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant signed a letter of commitment in Berlin for the sale of the advanced Arrow 3 air defense system, signaling a strengthening of ties between Israel and Germany. Israel
China's Huawei to invest $430M in North African cloud center, developer training The Chinese tech firm has been increasing its footprint in the Middle East and North Africa. North Africa
UAE places technology at top of COP28 agenda in Dubai The UAE Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology, UAE Space Agency and COP28 signed an agreement in July to coordinate on technology-focused sustainable solutions ahead of the major climate change conference in Dubai later this year. United Arab Emirates
China’s Huawei opens cloud data center in Riyadh to grow MENA footprint The Chinese telecoms giant said in February it would invest $400 million in Saudi Arabia's cloud region over the next five years. Saudi Arabia
US denies it had 'blocked' AI chip sales to some Middle Eastern countries The US Commerce Department was quick to distance itself from the reports — but it did not directly address imposing license restrictions on certain types of chips. Legacy: Gulf
Middle East offers strong market for AI content dubbing The region is ripe for translated content as Arabic is widely spoken and there is a strong appetite for digital media due to a young population. Saudi Arabia
