Turkish lira slips as Trump unclear on sanctions

Turkey's troubled lira tumbled on August 13, 2018 to fresh record lows against the euro and dollar, piling pressure on stock markets on fears the country's crisis could spill over into the world economy.
Updated 19 July 2019
Follow

Turkish lira slips as Trump unclear on sanctions

  • At 0454 GMT, the lira was at 5.6295 against the dollar, easing from a close of 5.6150 on Thursday
  • The currency had firmed late on Thursday from levels around 5.7 earlier in the day after Trump said the United States is not currently looking at sanctioning

ISTANBUL: The Turkish lira weakened slightly early on Friday, giving up some of the gains made the previous evening as U.S. President Donald Trump was unclear over whether his administration was looking at imposing sanctions on Turkey.

His comments came following a U.S. decision to remove Ankara from the F-35 fighter jet programme after it began receiving delivery of the Russian S-400 missile defence system last week.

At 0454 GMT, the lira was at 5.6295 against the dollar, easing from a close of 5.6150 on Thursday. The currency had firmed late on Thursday from levels around 5.7 earlier in the day after Trump said the United States is not currently looking at sanctioning Turkey over its purchase of the Russian defence system.
But Trump appeared to contradict that comment later, saying such a move on sanctions was in fact under consideration, sparking confusion at a tense time for relations between the two NATO allies.

"It's a very, very difficult situation for a lot of reasons," Trump said, when asked if he had ruled out sanctions on Ankara. "So we're looking at it. We'll see what we do."
The first parts of the S-400 air defence system were flown to the Murted military air base northwest of Ankara last Friday, sealing Turkey's deal with Russia.


PIF’s Humain invests $3bn in Elon Musk’s xAI prior to SpaceX acquisition

Updated 18 February 2026
Follow

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.