WASHINGTON, Nov 20 (Reuters): Saudi and US officials touted billions of dollars in new investments and growing financial ties between the two countries on Wednesday, coinciding with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's first visit to Washington since 2018.
Sitting next to Trump in the White House, bin Salman on Tuesday had promised to increase his country's US investment to $1 trillion from a $600 billion pledge he made when Trump visited Saudi Arabia in May. But he offered no details or timetable.
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump, who spoke at a US-Saudi business forum, pushed bin Salman to go higher. "Could you make it $1.5 trillion?" he asked.
Trump and bin Salman applauded $270 billion in agreements and sales signed between dozens of companies at the Kennedy Center conference, including planned purchases of 600,000 Nvidia AI chips by HUMAIN, a government-backed Saudi AI firm.
HUMAIN and Elon Musk's xAI will also jointly develop data centers in Saudi Arabia, including a 500-megawatt facility.
Separately, MP Materials said it would build a rare earths refinery in Saudi Arabia with the US Department of Defense and Saudi Arabian state-owned mining company Maaden to expand Middle Eastern processing of the critical minerals. Oil giant Saudi Aramco also said it has signed 17 memoranda of understanding and agreements with major US companies, carrying a potential value of more than $30 billion.
Bin Salman rubbed shoulders with many of Corporate America's most powerful executives at the event, a day after President Donald Trump reintroduced him to official Washington with a glowing endorsement.
It is the first trip by bin Salman to the US since the 2018 killing of Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents in Istanbul, which caused a global uproar. US intelligence concluded bin Salman approved the capture or killing of Khashoggi, a prominent critic. The crown prince denied ordering the operation but acknowledged responsibility as the kingdom's de facto ruler.
The CEOs from Chevron, Qualcomm, Cisco, General Dynamics and Pfizer attended the US-Saudi Investment Forum, as well as senior executives from IBM, Alphabet's Google, Salesforce, Andreessen Horowitz, Boeing (BA.N), opens new tab, Halliburton, Adobe, Aramco, State Street and Parsons Corp.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang talked about the future of AI. Musk predicted work will be optional in 10 or 20 years, while Huang said he thought AI would change the future of employment.
A $1 trillion investment in the US would be difficult for Saudi Arabia to pull together given its heavy spending on an already-ambitious series of massive projects at home, including futuristic megacities that have gone over budget and faced delays, and stadiums for the 2034 World Cup.
