“But what innovative ideas have come from Saudi Arabia and do the people who come from there even understand what the potential of AI actually is?”
The Saudis I met over the years understood their limitations well.
That is part of what made them intelligent business people.
They will follow rather than lead—scale up concepts that are well grounded.
My neighbors two doors down moved here from an oil rich Middle Eastern country. She is a lawyer and he has all sorts of very expensive toys. They are definitely more intelligent than many of the other foreigners that live in our community.
Maybe spending a boat load of money on AI is a good idea. Even though I am a hobbyist and have a better idea than many about AI’s capabilities... I really don’t know.