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Wa’ed Ventures Pledges $100M For Early-Stage AI Startup Funding

The move aligns with Saudi Arabia’s plans to become a global AI hub, as the Kingdom anticipates a $135 billion boost to GDP by 2030.

Published

2 years ago

October 28, 2024

Nour Nasir

wa'ed ventures pledges $100 million for early stage ai startup funding

Wa’ed Ventures, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aramco, has announced a $100 million allocation aimed at funding early-stage artificial intelligence (AI) startups. The move aligns with Saudi Arabia’s ambitions to establish itself as a global hub for AI innovation and is part of Wa’ed Ventures’ broader mission to nurture high-potential AI technologies.

To strengthen its investment decisions and deal-sourcing, Wa’ed Ventures has assembled an advisory board of experts with backgrounds from leading institutions such as Meta, Amazon, MIT, and Oxford University. These advisors bring a wealth of experience from sectors such as AI research, policymaking, academia, and entrepreneurship, providing critical insights and support to the fund’s investment strategy.

Anas Algahtani, Acting CEO of Wa’ed Ventures, shared: “Our strategic decision to allocate funds to AI investments is rooted in a deep understanding of the Kingdom’s growing ecosystem. By fostering innovation and supporting AI startups, we aim to accelerate the development of cutting-edge technologies that will drive economic growth, improve quality of life, and position Saudi Arabia as a global leader in Artificial Intelligence”.

As part of its active portfolio development, Wa’ed Ventures has made recent investments in Rebellions, a South Korean company specializing in AI chips, and AiXplain, a California-based provider of infrastructure for accelerated AI development. These investments reflect Wa’ed’s commitment to advancing AI applications and supporting companies that can enhance Saudi Arabia’s AI capabilities.

Also Read: Top Free AI Chatbots Available In The Middle East

Wa’ed Ventures’ AI-focused initiative not only targets the growth of local entrepreneurship but also aims to localize international AI talent and technologies, fostering a robust ecosystem that aligns with Saudi Vision 2030 goals.

A recent PwC report highlights the potential economic impact of AI on Saudi Arabia, projecting that by 2030, the country could generate $135 billion from AI-related activities, accounting for approximately 12% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This puts Saudi Arabia in a favorable position within the Middle East to capitalize on the transformative power of AI.

Related Topics:Aramco Artificial Intelligence Saudi Arabia

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Instagram Now Lets You Tune Its Algorithm, But There’s One Big Catch

The new controls promise users “agency” over their feed, but asking to see more from accounts you actually follow returns an error.

Published

3 days ago

June 11, 2026

Nour Nasir

Instagram

Instagram has expanded its algorithm personalization feature to the main feed, letting users specify which topics they want surfaced more or less often in recommendations.

Instagram chief Adam Mosseri framed the change as a matter of user control. “I believe it’s in our best interest as a business to empower people to shape Instagram into something that works for them, and that people should be able to have a meaningful amount of agency over the products they spend so much time in,” he wrote on Threads.

Though it turns out that agency has limits. The controls only accept interest-based topics, such as “rescue dogs” or “parenting humor”. Requesting “posts from people I follow” returns no results, which is obviously a sore point for creators whose posts rarely reach their own audiences. Mosseri conceded the tension: “Who you follow used to be a meaningful tool people had for shaping their own experience, and as recommendations took over the main feed that tool quietly stopped working”.

Also Read: How To Find & Cancel Pending Instagram Requests

Instagram credits large language models for making its algorithms legible enough to personalize, and says it is “actively working on supporting requests for people, different moods or vibes, content types, and more” – potentially leading to a fully “bespoke” version of the app.