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Google to Open Two New HQs in Saudi Arabia

Managing Director for Google in the Middle East & North Africa Anthony Nakache at a conference in Riyadh on Tuesday. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Managing Director for Google in the Middle East & North Africa Anthony Nakache at a conference in Riyadh on Tuesday. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Google to Open Two New HQs in Saudi Arabia

Managing Director for Google in the Middle East & North Africa Anthony Nakache at a conference in Riyadh on Tuesday. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Managing Director for Google in the Middle East & North Africa Anthony Nakache at a conference in Riyadh on Tuesday. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

American multinational technology company Google is preparing for launching two new headquarter offices in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The planned offices will open in the cities of Riyadh and al-Dammam. Google also is building a data partnership with Saudi oil giant, Aramco.

Google drove about SR12.2 billion ($3.25 billion) in economic activity in Saudi Arabia in 2021, with the Android Developer ecosystem supporting at least 29,000 jobs in the kingdom every year.

The search engine giant announced the figures in its latest impact report released on Tuesday. The report was based on public polling, economic modeling, and third-party data.

Besides, YouTube channels are making six figures or more in revenue are up by 20% year over year and the total number of developers making over SR37,500 ($10,000) per month or more on Play grew by 15%, said the Google Impact Report.

According to the report, 66% of people used Google Maps to find a local business and 52% of businesses reported an increase of customers coming from online search or search advertising in the last two years.

The paper also found that 67% of online businesses said that Google Workspace was essential in enabling remote working (Google workspace is a collection of cloud computing and collaboration tools like Google Drive, Gmail and Meet).

“It's great to see the positive impact Google products like Search, YouTube, Maps and Android have on the daily lives of Saudi people, local business owners, developers and content creators,” said Anthony Nakache, Managing Director for Google in the Middle East & North Africa.

“Saudi Arabia is young, smart and digital, and we're proud to be an engine of growth in the country and an enabler in its digital transformation journey,” he added.

“We're excited to see what great things people can do there given the right tools and skills and we are committed to doing more through programs and local partnerships,” he remarked.

“In the last couple of years, Covid-19 has helped accelerate some preexisting trends such as the rise of e-commerce, the shift towards remote working and the use of online tools to support lifelong learning,” said Jonathan Dupont, Partner at Public First.

“In our research, people and businesses across the Middle East told us how important Google’s tools and services had been in enabling them to adapt to these changes: helping small businesses start to sell online, supporting workers to collaborate better online and children to keep learning,” he added.

In October 2020, Google announced a $13 million fund to help one million people and businesses in the Middle East and North Africa learn advanced digital skills and grow their businesses by the end of 2021.

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Technology

Musk’s Social Media Firm X Bought by His AI Company, Valued at $33 Billion

xAI and X logos are seen in this illustration taken, March 28, 2025. (Reuters)
xAI and X logos are seen in this illustration taken, March 28, 2025. (Reuters)
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Musk’s Social Media Firm X Bought by His AI Company, Valued at $33 Billion

xAI and X logos are seen in this illustration taken, March 28, 2025. (Reuters)
xAI and X logos are seen in this illustration taken, March 28, 2025. (Reuters)

Elon Musk's xAI has acquired X in a deal that values the social media platform at $33 billion and allows the value of his artificial intelligence firm to be shared with his co-investors in the company formerly known as Twitter.

The deal could also help xAI's ability to train its chatbot known as Grok.

"xAI and X's futures are intertwined," Musk, who also heads automaker Tesla and SpaceX, wrote in a post on X: "Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent."

He said the combination values "xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion ($45B less $12B debt)".

Representatives for X and xAI did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Much of the deal's specifics remain unclear, such as how X's leaders would be integrated in the new firm or whether there would be regulatory scrutiny.

Musk, the world's wealthiest man, is also a close ally of US President Donald Trump and heads the Department of Government Efficiency.

D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria said the price tag for X of $45 billion when debt was included was not a coincidence. "It is $1 billion higher than the take-private transaction for Twitter in 2022."

An investor in xAI who declined to be identified said they were not surprised by the deal, viewing it as Musk consolidating his leadership and management at his own companies.

Musk did not ask investors for approval but told them that the two companies had been collaborating closely and the deal would drive deeper integration with Grok, the investor said.

OPENAI RIVALRY

Musk's xAI startup was launched less than two years ago and recently raised $10 billion in a funding round that valued the company at $75 billion, according to a media report.

It competes with the likes of Microsoft-backed OpenAI as well as with Chinese startup DeepSeek.

In February, Musk, 53, made a $97.4 billion bid with a consortium for OpenAI, which was rejected and he has sued to prevent the ChatGPT maker from converting from a non-profit to a for-profit business. A judge this month denied Musk's request for a preliminary injunction that would prevent the changeover.

As competition in AI intensifies, xAI has been ramping up its data center capacity to train more advanced models, and its supercomputer cluster in Memphis, Tennessee, called "Colossus," is touted as the largest in the world.

xAI introduced Grok-3, the latest iteration of its chatbot, in February.

The X platform could serve to further distribute xAI products, while also providing a real-time feed of users' musings, screenshots and other data.

After buying Twitter, Musk gutted the company's workforce, prompting advertisers to flee the platform and a rapid decline in revenue. Recently, brands have been returning to X as Musk's influence in the Trump administration grows.

The seven banks that extended $13 billion in loans to Musk to buy X kept the debt on their books for two years until they were able to sell it all at once last month, according to a source familiar with the transactions.

This was made possible after a surge in investor interest for exposure to AI companies along with X's improved operating performance over the previous two quarters, among other factors, according to two people familiar with the matter.

After the merger, investors who bought the debt from the banks will profit, said Espen Robak, founder of Pluris Valuation Advisors, which specializes in illiquid assets. "For sure the debt is worth more now, if not fully paid off."

Separately, a US judge on Friday rejected a bid by Musk to dismiss a lawsuit claiming he had defrauded former Twitter shareholders by waiting too long to disclose his initial investment in the company.