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At a time when global attention is increasingly focused on Doha as a regional hub for technological innovation, Huawei’s participation in Web Summit Qatar 2026 comes to define the contours of a new era of “All Intelligence.” The technology giant’s vision in Qatar goes beyond delivering cloud solutions; it extends to empowering national talent and supporting the transition from AI exploration to a phase of “sovereign execution” that ensures data independence and security. **media[412036]** In this exclusive interview, Mr. Lyn Xiong, CEO of Huawei Qatar, explains how the company’s strategies align with Qatar National Vision 2030, and highlights the role of advanced AI platforms in accelerating innovation cycles across government and the private sector—affirming that the country’s digital future is being built through strategic partnerships that put “intelligence first.” Huawei is participating in Web Summit Doha 2026 under the theme “All Intelligence.” From your perspective, how does this event fit into Huawei’s long-term strategy in the country, and why is it particularly important for Huawei Cloud and AI? Web Summit Doha 2026 is relevant to Huawei because it reflects a regional shift from AI exploration to AI execution. We are demonstrating how intelligence moves from models into systems that governments and enterprises can run securely. The summit also aligns with Huawei Cloud’s AI-Native Cloud strategy, where AI is embedded across infrastructure, data, and application layers rather than deployed as isolated tools. Huawei Cloud brings AI compute services, end-to-end toolchains, and platforms such as ModelArts that reduce AI deployment timelines from months to days, accelerating national adoption. Qatar is accelerating its digital agenda and AI adoption as part of Qatar National Vision 2030. How is Huawei Qatar aligning its investments and priorities with the country’s national strategies? Huawei is well aligned with Qatar National Vision 2030, which prioritises innovation and diversification through AI-Native Cloud capabilities that integrate data management, AI training, and inferencing into a unified system. It enables secure AI development environments, supporting Qatar’s ambition to move from digital adoption to intelligent leadership while maintaining control over strategic digital assets. We have introduced recently GovTech 1.0 Framework which represents the foundational phase of intelligent government, where data, cloud, and AI are integrated into core public systems rather than layered onto legacy platforms. For Qatar, this means building unified digital foundations that allow services to scale securely and adapt continuously. Practically, GovTech 1.0 enables ministries to modernise service delivery through interoperable platforms, intelligent workflows, and AI-assisted decision systems. By embedding intelligence into the government’s digital backbone, Qatar can move toward predictive services, faster response times, and data-driven policy execution without compromising sovereignty or security. You’ve emphasized working “closely with partners” in Qatar. How is Huawei collaborating with key players such as government entities, and local enterprises to build an open, resilient digital ecosystem that supports innovation and economic diversification? Our strategy across the region has focused on deep partner enablement and long-term collaboration through partnerships with telecom operators, government entities, and enterprises. We have co-developed industry solutions that are locally relevant and operationally sustainable. This ecosystem-led approach ensures that cloud and AI capabilities are cemented into national digital infrastructure while supporting innovation at the edge. In Qatar, we have constantly supported economic diversification by empowering local enterprises and technology partners to build and commercialise intelligent solutions. Local talent is essential for sustaining Qatar’s digital and AI ambitions. Beyond existing initiatives like the Huawei ICT Academy and AI Lab partnerships, what is Huawei Qatar doing to develop local capabilities and ensure that Qatar’s workforce can lead in the era of “All Intelligence”? Through structured programs and real-world project exposure, our solutions equip decision-makers and technical professionals to design and deploy govern intelligent systems independently. Developer-focused initiatives provide access to AI platforms such as ModelArts and cloud-native development tools, reducing the barrier between learning and implementation. We embed skills into live Cloud and AI environments helping build a workforce capable of leading intelligent transformation from within Qatar. The primary objective is long-term national ownership of intelligent infrastructure. Looking toward 2030 and beyond, how do you envision Huawei’s role in Qatar’s digital and intelligent future? What are the next frontiers of innovation you are most focused on as CEO of Huawei Qatar? In 2030 and beyond, intelligence will be embedded across every layer of Qatar’s economy. The focus moving forward is on industry intelligence, AI-native applications, and integrated Data+AI engines that allow governments and enterprises to innovate continuously rather than episodically. These capabilities enable digital twins, real-time decision systems, and autonomous operations to move from concept to reality. Beyond 2030, success will be measured by how seamlessly intelligence is governed, trusted, and applied. Huawei is committed to partnering with Qatar to build intelligent systems that last well beyond the current decade.

China launched live-fire drills around Taiwan Monday that it said would simulate a blockade of the self-ruled island’s key ports, prompting Taipei to condemn Beijing’s “military intimidation”. Beijing claims Taiwan as part of its sovereign territory and has refused to rule out using military action to seize the island democracy. The latest show of force follows a bumper round of arms sales to Taipei by the US, Taiwan’s main security backer. Beijing warned Monday that “external forces” arming Taipei would “push the Taiwan Strait into a perilous situation of imminent war”, but did not mention any countries by name. Foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said any attempts to stop China’s unification with Taiwan were “doomed to fail”. Reporters in Pingtan - a Chinese island that is the closest point to Taiwan’s main island - saw two fighter jets soaring across the sky and a Chinese military vessel in the distance. Visitors said they had been unaware of the drills as they milled around snapping photos. A tourist surnamed Guo, from Inner Mongolia, said she thinks a unification will “definitely happen”. “It’s just a matter of time,” she said. China said early Monday it was conducting “live-fire training on maritime targets to the north and southwest of Taiwan” in large-scale exercises involving destroyers, frigates, fighters, bombers and drones. Military spokesman Shi Yi said Beijing would send army, navy, air force and rocket force troops for drills code-named “Justice Mission 2025”. He said the drills would focus on “sea-air combat readiness patrol, joint seizure of comprehensive superiority, blockade on key ports and areas, as well as all-dimensional deterrence outside the island chain”. Chinese authorities published a map of five large zones around Taiwan where the war games would take place. Taiwan said China’s designated exercise zones, some of which are within 12 nautical miles of its coast, have affected international shipping and aviation routes. The island’s government condemned China’s “disregard for international norms and the use of military intimidation to threaten neighbouring countries”, presidential office spokeswoman Karen Kuo said. Its defence ministry said it had detected 89 Chinese military aircraft near its shores Monday - the highest number in a single day since October 2024. It also said it had detected 28 warships and coastguard vessels. Taiwan’s civil aviation administration said China had declared a “Temporary Danger Area” for 10 hours today. It also said “more than 100,000 (air) passengers” on 857 domestic, international and transit flights would be affected by the drills today. Taiwan’s military said it had established a response centre, deployed “appropriate forces” and “carried out a rapid response exercise”, while its coastguard said it “immediately deployed large vessels”. The drills by China’s ruling Communist Party “further confirm its nature as an aggressor, making it the greatest destroyer of peace”, Taipei’s defence ministry said. Chinese military spokesman Shi said the drills were “a stern warning against ‘Taiwan Independence’ separatist forces, and... a legitimate and necessary action to safeguard China’s sovereignty and national unity”. 

Large protests broke out in several towns and cities across Somalia Tuesday in opposition to Israel's recognition of the breakaway region of so-called Somaliland.Israel announced on Friday that it viewed so-called Somaliland -- which declared independence in 1991 but has never been recognised by any other country -- as an "independent and sovereign state".Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has condemned the move as a threat to stability in the Horn of Africa. He travelled Tuesday to Turkiye, a close ally, to discuss the situation.Thousands of protesters marched through the streets of Somali capital Mogadishu and gathered at a stadium, waving placards with anti-Israeli slogans alongside Somali and Palestinian flags."We will never allow anyone to violate our sovereignty," said one attendee, Adan Muhidin, adding that Israel's move was "a blatant violation of international law".Demonstrations also took place in Lascanod in the northeast, Guriceel in central Somalia, and Baidoa in the southwest."There is nothing we have in common with Israel. We say to the people of Somaliland, don't bring them close to you," said Sheikh Ahmed Moalim, a local religious leader, in Guriceel.The so-called Somaliland has long been a haven of stability and democracy in the conflict-scarred country, with its own money, passport and army.It also has a strategic position on the Gulf of Aden that makes it an attractive trade and military partner for regional and international allies.But Israel's decision to recognise its statehood has brought rebukes from across the Muslim and African world, with many fearing it will stoke conflict and division. 

Brookfield and Qai, an artificial intelligence company owned by Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, have formed a $20bn joint venture to develop artificial intelligence infrastructure in Qatar and select international markets, the two groups said Tuesday.The joint venture aims to position Qatar as a leading AI hub in the Middle East, they said, and plans to create an integrated compute centre expanding regional access to high-performance computing capabilities.Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) said on Monday it was setting up its own national AI company, Qai, as it invests to become a global AI hub outside of the US and China.AI is reshaping global tech and attracting massive investments in both software and physical infrastructure, especially in the data centres needed to process the information. A McKinsey report from April estimated that a $5.2tn investment in data centres will be needed by 2030 to meet the worldwide demand for AI.Brookfield will invest in the joint venture with Qai through its recently launched Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Fund, which aims to invest up to $100bn globally.In a separate interview not related to the announcements, QIA's head of funds Mohsin Pirzada told Reuters: "We've been investing in data centres since before it was in fashion."He said Qatar, as one of the world's biggest natural gas producers, benefited from increased demand for power to feed data centres. The sovereign fund has also invested in fast-growing companies in the sector including AI-driven analytics platform Databricks.QIA's Pirzada, asked whether he had any concerns about rising valuations for companies in the sector, said there may be a "shakeout", but that, in an echo of the 1990s dotcom bubble, it would leave a handful of market leaders and "a massive opportunity" for investors."We continue to invest into the technologies and the rail guards that will support this innovation, the bricks and mortar," Pirzada said. 

Qatar, right from the beginning, has been very firm and consistent in its position of offering full support for the Syrian people, said His Excellency the Minister of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dr Mohamed bin Abdulaziz bin Saleh al-Khulaifi.“Past 14 years, we haven’t changed our position. We have been firm, believing strongly that this is the right path for the Syrians to restore their full rights, for a country that is sovereign, prosperous, and providing an opportunity for the people to live a better life,” said Dr al-Khulaifi.Dr al-Khulaifi was speaking at a panel discussion titled ‘The New Syria One Year On: Assessing Progress, Opportunity & Challenges’ at Doha Forum 2025.The minister said Qatar has been very much engaging with Syria since day one of the issue and last year, during the Doha Forum while discussing the Syrian case, the movements for change in the country took place on the ground.“Things have moved so quickly. Our policy since day one was never to shy out but engage by talking to our brothers who are there on the ground. We stretched our hands to support the Syrian people and the Syrian government. And we have been very consistent in terms of that help,” he said.Dr al-Khulaifi said that several high profile institutions including Education Above All Foundation have come forward to support the Syrian people.“All of them have made outreach engagements over there and they have involved in several activities and projects within the Syrian government. I think, in terms of assessing the last 12 months of Qatar and Syrian partnership, it has never been stronger,” he added.The minister noted that both Qatar and Syria are working so close and have been engaged in different areas such as the financial, energy sectors among others. “We have been very much supporting the Syrian cause because we strongly believe in it. We think this is the right pathway, and this is what the Syrian people deserve,” he stressed. According to Dr al-Khulaifi, the strategy is to continue Qatar’s direct engagement with Syria at different levels.“In the past 12 months we were focusing on the main infrastructure within the country, aviation, finance, energy and others. The projects that we have accomplished so far are very pleasing. However, it is still not enough,” said the minister.He said that there is still more potential for Syria to prosper in other areas and pointed out that the openness shown by the new Syrian government to international investors to join in and play a role in the future of Syria, will put the country in a unique place in the future.Dr al-Khulaifi noted that empowering Syria focusing on the security element is something that is extremely important. “We will continue our engagement with the Syrian government on that angle and other angles as well, and also with our direct co-ordination at the international level,” he said.“I believe in the upcoming months it will be very critical for us to engage further, to work closely with the Syrian government to combat many of those challenges, and especially the security threats that the Syrians are facing. And, we had a very thorough and transparent engagement with the Syrian government at that point,” added the minister. 

Indonesian sovereign wealth fund Danantara’s growing momentum in state-firm restructuring is putting fresh focus on its $1.4bn bet on PT Garuda Indonesia, a key test of its ability to revive other troubled companies.The distressed carrier’s full-year results due to be published in March will offer the first clues on whether the bailout is gaining traction, with investors watching for signs that Garuda has begun to erase years of capital deficit. The financial support is Danantara’s largest deployment to date, adding pressure for the rescue plan to deliver results.“All eyes will be on Garuda’s prospective turnaround,” said Harry Su, managing director of research at Samuel Sekuritas Indonesia. “This will set the base for investors to gauge other potential state-owned enterprises success stories by Indonesia’s sovereign wealth fund going forward.”Danantara is in discussion for $500mn in support for steelmaker PT Krakatau Steel and is poised to restructure $5bn of debt owed by the consortium which operates Whoosh, the country’s first high-speed rail, by the end of the year. Construction firms PT Waskita Karya and PT Wijaya Karya are among companies that also need restructuring.The stakes are high for Danantara to get Garuda back on solid footing amid the fund’s broader ambitions to overhaul roughly 900 state-owned firms under its umbrella. A successful turnaround would bolster the fund’s credibility and signal to investors that it can drive reforms across Indonesia’s state holdings.The rescue package for Garuda is expected to bring its assets back above its liabilities by $183mn by the end of the year, the carrier said in a stock exchange filing. Its deficit would have stood at $65mn in June, after taking the capital injection into account, compared to an actual deficit of $1.5bn, it said.In a sign of improving investor sentiment, the company’s shares have climbed 51% since late June, when Danantara first aided the carrier with a $405mn loan. Its dollar-denominated sukuk maturing in 2031 has gained 42% as well to trade at around 90 cents on a dollar, underscoring firmer recovery expectations.Still, some analysts have raised doubts about the sustainability of Danantara’s support for Garuda, noting limitations on the use of the capital injection and that the carrier is operating with only about half the fleet it had before the pandemic. Rising leasing costs for new planes and the absence of a longer-term plan also pose headwinds.“The $1.4bn won’t be enough to put the airline on stable footing,” said Shukor Yusof, founder of aviation consultancy Endau Analytics Pte. “Garuda needs to get rid of all the excesses, fix the years of mismanagement and someone in the government or Danantara has to drive the changes to turn the airline around.”Garuda’s recovery will be key, not just as a validation of the fund’s model but also due to the carrier’s national importance. The 76-year-old airline is a major employer and a key mode of transport for the country made up of 17,000 islands over an area spanning the distance from New York to London. It is also set to play a role in the trade deal between Indonesia and the US with aircraft purchases.“Danantara seems to be taking things a lot faster with all these mergers and streamlining of the state-owned enterprises,” said Rain Yin, sovereign analyst at S&P Global Ratings. “That is one efficiency that we do seem to be observing in this process and also in supporting the SOEs under it.”The restructuring of Garuda will provide a proof of concept on how Danantara can turn around other state companies and allow them to grow in a sustainable way. The outcome will shape the fund’s plan to consolidate the state sector into roughly 200 competitive, globally focused companies and support President Prabowo Subianto’s target of 8% annual economic growth.“Danantara is a big bet” for Indonesia, said Alessandro Gazzini, managing director at Alvarez & Marsal Inc in Jakarta. “This will be a test case for long term solution of troubled state-owned companies and whether Danantara can find a way to introduce more business and market oriented solutions to solve some of these problems.” 

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is looking to increase its investments in Japan to about $27bn by the end of 2030 as the kingdom looks to deepen ties in Asia and expand in areas from critical minerals to financial markets.The Public Investment Fund aims to deploy more capital after investing $11.5bn in Japan from 2019-2024, Governor Yasir al-Rumayyan said at the FII Priority Asia Summit in Tokyo Monday. He highlighted spending in public and private markets and predicted recently-launched exchange traded funds between Saudi Arabia and Japan will “go further”.“Asia is big for us. We want to have better ties, better relationships, better procurement process, access to the supply chain,” al-Rumayyan said. “Japan at some stage was one of the largest partners for Saudi Arabia and we want to get that back.”Japan is Saudi Arabia’s third-largest trading partner at present. The sovereign wealth fund expects its investments in the country to contribute as much as $16.6bn to Saudi Arabia’s gross domestic product, al-Rumayyan said. He also hopes to see more return investment to the kingdom in areas including travel and tourism.Those sectors are among six areas of priority for the $1tn PIF under its 2026-2030 investment strategy, which is set to be unveiled early next year. The board has approved that plan and will be hammering out details over the next few days at a summit on the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia, al-Rumayyan said.The comments suggest Japan will remain a priority for PIF global investment as the fund seeks to increase its annual deployment of capital to $70bn after this year. It allocated nearly $57bn across priority sectors in 2024.Saudi Arabia has been leaning more heavily into its relationships with Asian nations in recent years as it seeks to draw more foreign partners to help advance the country’s multi-trillion dollar Vision 2030 economic transformation programme.There’s been a strong emphasis on the financial sector, with multiple ETFs launched in markets including mainland China, Hong Kong and Japan to track Saudi assets over the last two years. Asian banks have emerged as major financiers for Saudi entities. In energy, Saudi Arabia is working with Japan on developing the market for blue ammonia.Additionally, the kingdom is developing Dragon Ball and anime theme parks at its Qiddiya mega entertainment city on the outskirts of Riyadh in partnership with Japan. The FII Tokyo conference held on November 30-December 1 was the second FII event ever held in Asia. 

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is in advanced talks to invest in Leonardo SpA’s aerostructures unit following months of negotiations, according to people familiar with the matter.  Under the deal being discussed, the two parties would create a global unit for aerostructure works, said the people, asking not to be identified discussing a private matter. The talks between the Italian defence contractor and the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund, reported earlier this year by Bloomberg, are largely complete, they said.  A planned meeting between Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at a Gulf summit in Bahrain could be pivotal in securing final government approvals, the people said.  Representatives for Leonardo and the Italian government, which owns 30% of the company, declined to comment, while officials at the Saudi fund didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment outside of regular business hours in the country. Working with Leonardo would give the Gulf kingdom greater exposure to a key global manufacturing industry as Prince Mohammed seeks to diversify Saudi Arabia’s economy from oil.  For Leonardo, a deal would bring financial support for a division that’s been losing money. It supplies major structural parts for Boeing Co’s 787 Dreamliner, but suffered losses partly tied to a production slowdown in the US.  That has affected activity at Leonardo’s plants, though Boeing is now ramping up output again of the widebody jet. Leonardo’s aerostructures division employs about 4,000 people in four Italian plants. It had 2024 revenue of €746mn ($784mn).  One possible outcome is for the Italian aerospace firm to build a civil aviation manufacturing plant in Saudi Arabia, Bloomberg reported in February. The kingdom is also keen to participate in a next-generation fighter jet, a costly project on which the Italian company is working with partners in the UK and Japan.  Italy and Saudi Arabia have recently deepened economic ties. A meeting between the two leaders in January paved the way for deals valued at about $10bn.  

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund exited positions in almost a dozen US-listed stocks in the third quarter, including Pinterest Inc and industrial gas firm Linde Plc, taking the value of its holdings in American equities to the lowest in almost a year.The $1tn Public Investment Fund also sold off all of its stakes in Prologis Inc and Air Products and Chemicals Inc, which is co-developing a green hydrogen plant in Saudi Arabia’s Neom, according to a Bloomberg News analysis of the fund’s latest 13F filing.The PIF pared its holding in Lucid Group Inc, while maintaining positions in Uber Technologies Inc and Electronic Arts Inc. The total value of the wealth fund’s US portfolio stood at $19.4bn, down about 18% from the prior period and the lowest level of 2025.The move follows a series of exits in the prior period, including from Meta Platforms Inc and FedEx Corp, and comes as the PIF sharpens its focus on domestic companies and prioritises local investment to help drive the kingdom’s economic diversification plans.The latest 13F disclosure also comes just days before Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is due to visit President Donald Trump at the White House, in what will be the Saudi leader’s first official visit to the US since 2018.Agreements on security, semiconductors and nuclear technology are expected to feature on the agenda. Trump will also be looking for Saudi Arabia to follow through on a pledge to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in the US after his visit to the kingdom in May.Chaired by the crown prince, the PIF is the key entity tasked with helming Saudi Arabia’s economic diversification program known as Vision 2030, which includes dozens of mega-construction projects like Neom and the historical heritage site of Diriyah.That job has become more challenging in recent years as subdued oil prices deepen the government budget deficit, heaping more pressure on the PIF to drive spending in the local economy. Still, the fund plans to continue deploying more capital in the years ahead.The PIF has said it aims to put $70bn to work after 2025, with the lion’s share of that going to Saudi investments. It deployed $57bn across priority sectors in 2024, according to its annual report.More insights on the fund’s 2026-2030 investment strategy is expected to be released early next year, Bloomberg has reported.

The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the country's sovereign wealth fund, has invested in d-Matrix, a pioneer in generative AI (artificial intelligence) inference for data centres.Valued at $2bn and bringing the total raised to date to $450mn, d-Matrix will use the new capital to advance their roadmap, accelerate global expansion and support multiple large-scale deployments of the world’s highest performing, most efficient data centre inference platform for hyperscalers, enterprise, and sovereign customers.The oversubscribed round attracted leading investment firms across Europe, North America, Asia, and the Middle East. The funding was co-led by a global consortium including BullhoundCapital, Triatomic Capital, and Temasek, and welcomed new investors including QIA and EDBI, alongside follow-on participation from M12, Microsoft’s Venture Fund, as well as Mirae Asset, Industry Ventures, and Nautilus Venture Partners.d-Matrix's full-stack inference platform combines breakthrough compute-memory integration, high-speed networking, and inference-optimised software to deliver 10× faster performance, 3× lower cost, and 3–5× better energy efficiency than GPU-based systems.This step-change in performance and efficiency directly addresses growing AI sustainability challenges. By enabling one data centre to handle the workload of ten, d-Matrix offers a clear path to reducing global data centre energy consumption while enabling enterprises to deliver cost-efficient, profitable AI services without compromise.“From day one, d-Matrix has been uniquely focused on inference. When we started d-Matrix six years ago, training was seen as AI’s biggest challenge, but we knew that a new set of challenges would be coming soon,” said Sid Sheth, chief executive officer and co-founder of d-Matrix.“We predicted that when trained models needed to run continuously at scale, the infrastructure wouldn't be ready. We've spent the last six years building the solution: a fundamentally new architecture that enables AI to operate everywhere, all the time. This funding validates that vision as the industry enters the Age of AI Inference,” he added.Investor confidence reflects d-Matrix’s differentiated technology, rapid customer growth, and expanding network of global partners — including the recently announced d-Matrix SquadRack open standards-based reference architecture with Arista, Broadcom, and Supermicro.A strong product roadmap featuring 3D memory-stacking innovations and a customer-centric go-to-market strategy further establishes d-Matrix as a cornerstone of the new AI infrastructure stack.

Indonesia’s sovereign wealth fund Danantara is reducing its financial support for flag carrier PT Garuda Indonesia, putting in doubt the distressed airline’s ability to refresh its fleet.Garuda will now receive 23.7tn rupiah ($1.4bn) from PT Danantara Asset Management, an arm of the wealth fund, through a private placement, which comprises a cash injection and a loan conversion, according to an exchange filing. The airline was supposed to obtain $1.8bn under a plan drawn up last month.In addition to covering finance expenses and providing working capital, Danantara Asset would have helped with fleet expansion. However, Danantara Asset notified Garuda that “there is also an adjustment to the planned use of funds, which no longer includes fleet expansion,” the airline said in a separate statement.The carrier has struggled financially since the Covid-19 pandemic and has grounded an increasing number of planes because of difficulties making maintenance payments. The number of idled jets operated by the company and subsidiary low-cost carrier PT Citilink Indonesia rose to 51 as of June, nearly 40% of the group’s total fleet, and up from 33 a year ago.Leasing new planes comes with high price tags amid a dearth of available aircraft and a global surge in travel. The carrier earlier this year paid twice as much to lease a Boeing Co 737 Max jet than it does for older 737 jets.Garuda should focus on getting some of its grounded planes flying again, said Gerry Soejatman, a Jakarta-based independent aviation analyst.“Ordering new planes for early delivery is going to be very expensive, and probably less prudent financially,” he said. “It is better to see the grounded jets being put back into service or returned to lessors before Garuda place big aircraft orders.”

Across the Gulf, governments are investing billions in sovereign AI initiatives, data center expansions, and smart city ecosystems. From NEOM’s greenfield infrastructure to Abu Dhabi’s G42-backed cloud services and Dubai’s push to embed AI in public services, the region is making AI central to its long-term economic leadership. But as these ambitions scale, they demand energy-efficient, high-performance infrastructure capable of running AI at national levels—without breaking the grids or the budgets. This challenge is prompting a closer look at energy-efficient alternatives to running AI models.This shift is already underway in the U.S., where trillions of dollars are being poured into data center infrastructure. With it, a wave of new players is emerging with hardware optimized for efficiency, scalability, and cost-effectiveness in AI workloads. One of the most promising is Positron, a startup with deep connections to capital partners behind well-known brands—two of the most compute-intensive sectors in AI. The company recently raised $51M to scale its inference accelerators, designed for high power efficiency, strong performance-per-dollar, and optimized memory bandwidth, key factors for large-scale inference deployment.As Middle Eastern nations plant their flags and chart the course of their AI futures, it’s worth looking for solutions beyond obvious hardware, like expensive, non-specialized GPUs. Positron’s recent deployments with leading US neoclouds like Cloudflare might be an indicator of the powerful and efficient infrastructure that will soon be deployed in many countries in the Middle East.Where AI Gets ExpensiveWhile hardware choices often focus on raw power or training benchmarks, the real costs and energy demands come after the model is trained. Inference, the phase where AI models are actually deployed and used, is what makes or breaks infrastructure strategies. And it’s where the gap between traditional GPUs and purpose-built systems becomes most apparent.In the training phase, models learn from data to make predictions and perform tasks. Inference is the subsequent phase where a trained model uses its knowledge to process new data and generate outputs like user prompts and synthetic content, or power customer-facing AI assistants. Where training is a one-time cost, inference is a continuous process that scales with every user interaction on every AI platform. And today, inference has become the largest and fastest-growing source of AI’s ongoing energy consumption.Positron is directly addressing this challenge with its inference system, designed from the ground up to maximize memory capacity and support large-scale deployment across neocloud platforms and enterprise environments. By focusing on efficiency, memory optimization, and compatibility, Positron is helping AI builders and infrastructure providers improve performance while working toward more energy-efficient operations.Rethinking AI’s Cost CurveToday, inference accounts for nearly 90 percent of all model-related workloads across both consumer and enterprise applications. Despite this, most inference is still being run on power-hungry general-purpose GPUs, which were originally designed to train large, flexible models, not for the demands of real-time, high-throughput inference workloads.This misalignment has created a hidden cost structure in which enterprises and cloud providers are forced to rely on expensive GPU hardware to perform repetitive, memory-bound inference tasks, often utilizing only a fraction of each chip’s capacity. This inefficiency inflates operating costs and puts additional strain on power grids in regions where energy management and infrastructure optimization are critical concerns.Positron’s answer to this problem is Atlas, a full-stack inference system that leverages reprogrammable FPGAs to maximize memory bandwidth and throughput. Atlas is designed to make more efficient use of memory bandwidth than standard GPUs, with a focus on improving cost-effectiveness and reducing energy consumption. The platform is already in use by neocloud companies, including Cloudflare and Parasail, where it’s powering large-scale inference workloads with no code modifications required.Strategic Funding to Scale AI AccessPositron just closed a $51.6 million Series A funding round led by Valor Equity Partners, Atreides Management, and DFJ Growth with participation from 1517 Fund, Flume Ventures, and Unless. The round brings the company’s total funding to $75 million and reflects growing investor confidence in inference-optimized infrastructure as the next major wave in AI.This funding will support the continued deployment of Positron’s first-gen product and accelerate the rollout of Titan, the company’s upcoming ASIC-based inference platform slated for release in 2026. Titan is being developed to support some of the largest and most complex AI models in use today, with a planned capacity of up to 16 trillion parameters and two terabytes of high-speed memory per chip. Its modular, high-throughput design is intended to address the growing demand for scalable, sovereign AI infrastructure in both enterprise and government deployments.Unlike traditional solutions, Positron’s hardware supports existing model binaries and APIs, minimizing the need for code rewrites or major system changes.Enabling Innovation in Emerging MarketsAs AI deployment expands beyond Big Tech and into broader enterprise and public-sector applications, the economic burden of inference is becoming increasingly visible. AI-driven tools are now reaching users across every geography and industry—but their accessibility still hinges on the cost and efficiency of the underlying computer infrastructure.By making inference more affordable and energy-efficient, AI will become accessible beyond the walls of Big Tech and elite research labs, which will open the door for a broader range of users to fine-tune open-source models and run them locally. This unlocks entirely new categories of use cases, from healthcare diagnostics in rural clinics to real-time translation in schools——applications that only become viable in power-constrained environments with energy-efficient inference solutions.This transformation is especially relevant in the Middle East, where governments are prioritizing both AI leadership and sustainability. By decoupling inference performance from power-hungry GPUs, Positron offers a path forward for building AI infrastructure that is both economically and environmentally aligned with the region’s strategic goals.The Future of AI InfrastructureLooking ahead, the next phase of AI evolution will not be determined by who can train the largest model, but by who can deploy it most efficiently. Inference is already the dominant workload—and its impact on cost, access, and infrastructure design is only accelerating. As AI becomes a foundational layer across sectors, the ability to serve models at scale—securely, affordably, and sustainably—will shape the region’s global economic posture.Positron’s inference-first architecture presents a credible alternative to GPU-dominated infrastructure. By designing systems tailored to how AI is actually used in production, the company is unlocking new opportunities for cloud providers, national governments, and enterprise platforms alike. In the Middle East, a region increasingly focused on energy efficiency, technological development, and AI infrastructure, this shift in architecture could power the next chapter of AI growth in digitally ambitious, resource-aware economies like those across the Middle East.