DAVOS: President Donald Trump lived up to his reputation as a business-focused politician with a special address to the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos that concentrated on his achievements in economic and financial policy — especially the big tax cuts he has brought in.
He told a packed gathering of business leaders and policymakers that his policies had led to strong economic growth and to stock markets “smashing all records.”
“There has never been a better time to invest in the USA. America is open for business, and now is the perfect time to bring business, jobs and investment to the US,” he told them.
“We have created $7 trillion dollars worth of wealth on the stock markets, and created 2.4 million new jobs in the US,” he said.
The president said that he had “revived the American dream after years of stagnation,” and that his policies had led to the lowest unemployment rates for African, Hispanic and female Americans. He said his tax cuts had increased household incomes “by thousands of dollars” in the US.
In a question session after his address with Klaus Schwab, executive chairman and founder of the WEF, Trump revealed that he had dinner in Davos with 15 business leaders who had “become friends” after he explained his economic policies to them. Some had promised to bring “billions of dollars” back to the US as investment.
He singled out Apple as a company that was going to repatriate $350 billion of funds held in overseas, more tax-efficient jurisdictions. “They (the dinner invites) are putting in money. I didn’t know them before but now they are friends.”
He said that tax reform had been a “dream” of American presidents for nearly 40 years, since President Reagan last undertook a major overhaul of the system.
Much of his address concentrated on the performance of the American economy and stock markets since he became president a year ago. He said that this was because he had reduced regulatory and bureaucratic obstacles to doing business.
“Regulation is stealth taxation. We have teams of unelected bureaucracy who are crushing business,” he said.
Trump said that he had pledged to scrap two regulations for every one he introduced, but in fact had managed to eliminate 22 for each new law.
He also said that his administration had lifted self-imposed restrictions on the energy industry, because “no country should be held hostage over energy.”
Some analysts had forecast a hostile reception and even an organized walkout when the president began speaking, but the delegates mostly listened in silence and gave polite applause at the end.
There were signs of hostility on only two occasions. Some attendees murmured aloud when Schwab, introducing Trump, said that he had been the victim of “misconception and biased interpretation.”
The media contingent in the Davos audience also voiced their disapproval when Trump said that he had always had a good press as a businessman but that since he had become president the media had become “nasty, mean, vicious and fake.”
Donald Trump tells Davos: ‘Now is the perfect time to invest in America’
Donald Trump tells Davos: ‘Now is the perfect time to invest in America’
PIF’s Humain invests $3bn in Elon Musk’s xAI prior to SpaceX acquisition
JEDDAH: Humain, an artificial intelligence company owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, invested $3 billion in Elon Musk’s xAI shortly before the startup was acquired by SpaceX.
As part of xAI’s Series E round, Humain acquired a significant minority stake in the company, which was subsequently converted into shares of SpaceX, according to a press release.
The transaction reflects PIF’s broader push to position Saudi Arabia as a central hub in the global AI ecosystem, as part of its Vision 2030 diversification strategy.
Through Humain, the fund is seeking to combine capital deployment with infrastructure buildout, partnerships with leading technology firms, and domestic capacity development to reduce reliance on oil revenues and expand into advanced industries.
The $3 billion commitment offers potential for long-term capital gains while reinforcing the company’s role as a strategic, scaled investor in transformative technologies.
CEO Tareq Amin said: “This investment reflects Humain’s conviction in transformational AI and our ability to deploy meaningful capital behind exceptional opportunities where long-term vision, technical excellence, and execution converge, xAI’s trajectory, further strengthened by its acquisition by SpaceX, one of the largest technology mergers on record, represents the kind of high-impact platform we seek to support with significant capital.”
The deal builds on a large-scale collaboration announced in November at the US-Saudi Investment Forum, where Humain and xAI committed to developing over 500 megawatts of next-generation AI data center and computing infrastructure, alongside deploying xAI’s “Grok” models in the Kingdom.
In a post on his X handle, Amin said: “I’m proud to share that Humain has invested $3 billion into xAI’s Series E round, just prior to its historic acquisition by SpaceX. Through this transaction, Humain became a significant minority shareholder in xAI.”
He added: “The investment builds on our previously announced 500MW AI infrastructure partnership with xAI in Saudi Arabia, reinforcing Humain’s role as both a strategic development partner and a scaled global investor in frontier AI.”
He noted that xAI’s trajectory, further strengthened by SpaceX’s acquisition, exemplifies the high-impact platforms Humain aims to support through strategic investments.
Earlier in February, SpaceX completed the acquisition of xAI, reflecting Elon Musk’s strategy to integrate AI with space exploration.
The combined entity, valued at $1.25 trillion, aims to build a vertically integrated innovation ecosystem spanning AI, space launch technology, and satellite internet, as well as direct-to-device communications and real-time information platforms, according to Bloomberg.
Humain, founded in August, consolidates Saudi Arabia’s AI initiatives under a single entity. From the outset, its vision has extended beyond domestic markets, participating across the global AI value chain from infrastructure to applications.
The company represents a strategic initiative by PIF to diversify the Kingdom’s economy and reduce oil dependence by investing in knowledge-based and advanced technologies.
