Ray Dalio says Middle East is becoming a ‘Silicon Valley of capitalists’

The Middle East is fast emerging as one of the world’s most powerful AI hubs, Bridgewater Associates’ founder Ray Dalio said Monday, comparing the region’s rise to Silicon Valley’s pull for all things tech. 

Speaking to CNBC, Dalio said the United Arab Emirates and its neighbors have combined vast pools of capital with an influx of global talent, creating a magnet for investment managers and AI innovators alike.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia have this year launched multibillion-dollar initiatives to build cloud, data centers and other AI infrastructure, underpinned by sovereign-wealth capital and global tech partnerships.

A $10 billion agreement between Google Cloud and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund announced this year aims to create a “global AI hub” in the country, as part of a broader push to host data-centers and AI workloads locally.

Earlier this year, technology giants OpenAI, Oracle, Nvidia and Cisco combined forces to build a major Stargate artificial intelligence campus in the United Arab Emirates.

When asked if he thinks that the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar can be leaders in the AI race, Dalio said, “What they’ve done is to create talented people. So this [region] is kind of becoming a Silicon Valley of capitalists ... So now people are coming in … money is coming in, talent is coming in.”