{"id":5651,"date":"2025-11-03T15:51:53","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T15:51:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fii-institute.org\/?post_type=press&p=5651"},"modified":"2025-11-04T12:38:42","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T12:38:42","slug":"fii9-day-2-artificial-intelligence-energy-and-ambition-take-center-stage-in-riyadh","status":"publish","type":"press","link":"https:\/\/fii-institute.org\/ar\/press\/fii9-day-2-artificial-intelligence-energy-and-ambition-take-center-stage-in-riyadh\/","title":{"rendered":"FII9 Day 2: Artificial Intelligence, Energy, and Ambition Take Center Stage in Riyadh\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Riyadh, October 29, 2025<\/strong> – The second day of the 9th Future Investment Initiative (FII) <\/strong>zeroed in on the age of intelligence, <\/em>in which data, compute, and ambition are reshaping industries, economies, and the human experience. From AI sovereignty and energy resilience to the rise of patriotic capitalism and the rebirth of tourism, world leaders and CEOs converged on Riyadh to chart the next phase of prosperity.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cGlobal conversations need calm to decouple prosperity from politics<\/em>,<\/em><\/strong>\u201d said Richard Attias, Chairman of the Executive Committee and Acting CEO of FII Institute, <\/strong>opening the day\u2019s plenary. \u201cThis week, we are seeing Saudi Arabia at the center of new global partnerships that redefine what progress means in an age of intelligence.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The morning sessions \u2018Will Compute Become a Global Resource?\u2019<\/em> and \u2018What Does It Take to Create Intelligence?<\/em><\/strong>\u2019<\/em> explored AI as the foundation of the next industrial era. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAI is built on compute, the fourth civilization-level resource, after stone, iron, and oil,\u201d <\/em>said Jonathan Ross, CEO of Groq, while Aidan Gomez of Cohere highlighted onshoring<\/em> and data sovereignty<\/em> as strategic imperatives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarah Friar, CFO of OpenAI,<\/strong> pointed out Saudi Arabia\u2019s growing role: \u201cThe Kingdom is an exciting environment for data centers\u2026 building, regulating, and powering them faster and better.<\/em>\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Philip Guido of AMD added that democratizing AI means \u201ceveryone\u2019s going to have an opportunity to participate<\/em>,\u201d as governments and tech leaders invest to make compute capacity globally accessible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Donald Trump Jr. and Omeed<\/strong> Malik of 1789 Capital declared the return of values-based economics.  \u201cWe created 1789 Capital to invest in companies strengthening America\u2019s security and prosperity,\u201d<\/em> Malik said, while Trump Jr. told the audience \u201cAnyone with some intelligence would invest in the Middle East. The opportunities in this region are spectacular.<\/em>\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Board of Changemakers: <\/strong>\u2018The Energy Trilemma\u2019<\/em><\/strong> brought together leaders from ACWA Power, ENGIE, Octopus Energy, and the U.S. Department of Energy to debate how to meet AI\u2019s surging power needs while maintaining affordability and sustainability. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere should be no trade-off between cost, sustainability, and resilience, these are interdependent,\u201d<\/em> said Khalid Al-Ghamdi, CEO of Saudi Electricity Company. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

H.E. Mohammad Al-Tuwaijri, Vice Chairman of the National Development Fund<\/strong>, said Saudi funds are becoming more agile than traditional multilaterals: \u201cIn a world of disruption, partnerships between national funds and multilaterals are more essential than ever. The MENA region is evolving rapidly, and Saudi Arabia continues to support its neighbors every day.<\/em>\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In \u2018Resilience as the New Corporate Currency\u2019<\/em> executives from PIF, EFG Holding, Baker McKenzie, and Moelis & Co. discussed the new definition of corporate resilience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCompanies have optimized for efficiency, not endurance,\u201d<\/em> said Rania Nashar of PIF, adding that PIF\u2019s resilience dashboard helps identify early warning signals across its portfolio. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Robert Playter, CEO of Boston Dynamics<\/strong>, unveiled the next frontier: \u201cThere will be a robot for every person \u2014 but first they must become truly functional and manufactured at scale.<\/em>\u201d  He added that AI in robotics will accrue value to people everywhere, without requiring an advanced degree to use one.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tourism Minister H.E. Ahmed Al-Khateeb<\/strong> reaffirmed the sector\u2019s role as a pillar of Vision 2030: <\/strong>\u201c<\/strong>Tourism represents 5% of our GDP<\/em><\/strong>; we must double that within five years.<\/em>\u201d Following which,<\/em> leaders from Hilton, IHG, Accor, and Riyadh Air agreed that AI is transforming travel but cannot replace the human touch. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belkasem Khalifa Hifter of Libya\u2019s Reconstruction Fund talked about Libya\u2019s rebuilding and resilience. \u201cReconstruction is not just engineering, it\u2019s a national commitment to hope.\u201d <\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

H.E. Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Governor of the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Chairman of Saudi Aramco<\/strong> and FII Institute, reflected on PIF\u2019s extraordinary transformation. \u201cBack in 2015, PIF\u2019s assets under management were worth around $150 billion. Today, they are almost triple that number, and we aim to reach $1 trillion by the end of this year \u2014 we are very close.<\/em>\u201d   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He outlined the fund\u2019s evolution from a nation builder to a nationally aligned investor and asset optimizer: \u201cOur proposal for 2026\u20132030 focuses on six main ecosystems – travel and tourism, urban development and liveability, advanced manufacturing and innovation, industrial and logistics, clean energy and renewables, and NEOM as its own ecosystem. This will guide our capital priorities and timelines.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The finale of the day was a special conversation with Syrian President His Excellency <\/strong>Ahmed Al Sharaa <\/strong>who explained how his country had chosen the path of investment over dependency on aid.     <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a moving speech (delivered on his birthday) to a packed audience which included His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman<\/strong> he explained how \u201cwar entered every home in Syria, I bet on my people, but the people remained steadfast and held onto their principles\u201d<\/em> before concluding \u201ctoday is a historic opportunity for investors to start investing in Syria.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Across technology, energy, and human development, FII9 Day 2 showed a world shifting toward a new equilibrium, where intelligence, ambition, collaboration, and hope become the currencies of progress. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

FII9 launched three new reports:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rebalancing Intelligence: How The Next Wave of AI Investment Is Set To Flow South (AI Inclusive Initiative’s Report with Accenture)<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Global Cities Resilience Index Report  <\/a>(With Kearney) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

AI & Healthcare In The MENA Region Report (With Columbia University)<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

-ends-<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

About FII Institute<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The FII Institute is a global nonprofit foundation with an investment arm and one agenda: Impact on Humanity. Through its THINK, XCHANGE, and ACT pillars, the Institute fosters great ideas, empowers innovators, and invests in scalable solutions across critical sectors, including AI and robotics, sustainability, healthcare, and education. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information, please visit: https:\/\/fii-institute.org\/<\/a>\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For media inquiries, registration, and further details, please contact media@fii-institute.org<\/a>. <\/strong> <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Riyadh, October 29, 2025 – The second day of the 9th Future Investment Initiative (FII) zeroed in on the age of intelligence, in which data, compute, and ambition are reshaping industries, economies, and the human experience. From AI sovereignty and energy resilience to the rise of patriotic capitalism and the rebirth of tourism, world leaders […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5670,"template":"","categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5651","press","type-press","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fii-institute.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press\/5651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fii-institute.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fii-institute.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/press"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fii-institute.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fii-institute.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fii-institute.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fii-institute.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fii-institute.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}