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- MGX, QIA Invest More in xAI; Saudi Tadawul Soars; Leadership Appointment at UAE Media Authority
MGX, QIA Invest More in xAI; Saudi Tadawul Soars; Leadership Appointment at UAE Media Authority
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Thursday, January 8, 2026
Happy Thursday everyone!
Elon Musk’s xAI raised $20 billion in its Series E, with Middle Eastern investors including Qatar Investment Authority and Abu Dhabi’s MGX backing the AI frontier. In the UAE, Abdulla Al Hamed was named Chairman of the newly formed National Media Authority, consolidating media oversight and preparing for major events like the 1 Billion Followers Summit. Meanwhile, Saudi equities jumped as the kingdom opened its stock market to all foreign investors, a landmark step toward full liberalization expected to attract billions in new inflows.
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Markets
EGX 30 | 41,539.85 | 2.12% |
DFMGI | 6,182.55 | 0.33% |
ADX | 9,996.40 | 0.527% |
Tadawul | 10,455.14 | 1.60% |
MGX, QIA Participate as XAI Raises $20 Billion In Series E
What’s it About?
Elon Musk’s xAI has raised $20 billion in an upsized Series E round, surpassing its $15 billion target, as it accelerates development of large-scale AI infrastructure and products. Investors include Qatar Investment Authority, MGX, Valor Equity Partners, Fidelity, StepStone, and Baron Capital, with strategic backing from NVIDIA and Cisco. The funding supports xAI’s models, data centers, and rapid global expansion.
Why it Matters?
The round underscores growing Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund influence in global AI. QIA, MGX, Kingdom Holding, and Oman Investment Authority have backed xAI across earlier Series B and C rounds, positioning the region as a long-term capital partner in frontier AI. With over one million H100 GPU equivalents and 600 million monthly users across Grok and 𝕏, xAI is scaling at unprecedented speed.
What’s Next?
xAI is training Grok 5 and expanding its Colossus supercomputing platforms while rolling out new consumer and enterprise AI products. The company plans to deepen Grok’s voice, multimodal, and real-time capabilities, integrated tightly with 𝕏 and Tesla. The fresh capital will fund infrastructure, research, and hiring as xAI pushes toward its stated mission of “Understanding the Universe.”
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Abdulla Al Hamed Appointed Chairman Of New UAE National Media Authority
What’s it About?
President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has issued Federal Decrees appointing Abdulla bin Mohammed bin Butti Al Hamed as Chairman of the UAE’s newly established National Media Authority, with Mohammed Saeed Al Shehhi named Vice Chairman. The appointments follow the creation of the authority under a new Federal Law, positioning it as a central pillar of the UAE’s media governance framework.
Why it Matters?
The National Media Authority consolidates the UAE Media Council, National Media Office and WAM into a single federal entity with legal, financial and administrative independence. The move streamlines regulation, strengthens coordination of national messaging, and enhances the UAE’s ability to manage media narratives, digital platforms and crisis communications, while reinforcing the country’s global media presence and reputation.
What’s Next?
The authority will oversee media regulation, licensing, content standards and professional accreditation, while leading the development of WAM as the official source of approved UAE news. It will also organise the 1 Billion Followers Summit, scheduled for January 9–11, 2026, positioning the UAE at the center of global conversations on media, creators and digital influence.
Note: Smashi Business is a media partner with 1 Billion Followers Summit from Jan 9-11, 2025. Stay tuned on our socials for live coverage of the event boasting Mr Beast, Will Smith etc.
Saudi Stocks Soar As Kingdom Opens Market To All Foreign Investors
What’s it About?
Saudi equities surged after the Capital Market Authority removed restrictions requiring foreign investors to meet specific qualifications, allowing non-residents to invest directly in the Tadawul starting February 1. The Tadawul All Share Index jumped as much as 2.5%, its biggest daily gain since September, led by banks and financial firms, signaling strong investor optimism about the kingdom’s move toward full market liberalization.
Why it Matters?
The step marks a key milestone in Saudi Arabia’s broader economic transformation, aiming to attract foreign capital amid subdued oil revenues and budget pressures. Analysts predict inflows of at least $10 billion, while easing foreign ownership restrictions could pave the way for global institutional and retail investors to participate fully. This is expected to boost liquidity, diversify investor base, and increase the kingdom’s weight in MSCI benchmarks.
What’s Next?
The CMA will review foreign ownership limits in 2026 to determine if they should be fully removed or eased gradually. Full liberalization could unlock billions more in passive and active inflows, reshape Saudi Arabia’s equity market with stronger institutional participation, and support long-term economic growth. Investors are watching closely for timing and scale of the next phase of market opening.
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UAE Advances Drone Delivery with Successful Pilot in Remote Liwa
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HSBC and Presight Forge AI Partnership to Revolutionise Banking in UAE
👨💻From Smashi Business’ Desk
PIF’s $45B SoftBank Bet Aimed at AI Exposure Despite Underwhelming Returns.
Warner Bros Set to Reject $108.4B Gulf-Backed Paramount Bid Amid Netflix Deal Talks
Saudi Arabia Secures 86% Stake in Binladin Group to Stabilize Debt and Jobs
Israel’s Tech Ambitions Shaken as Musk Talks with Netanyahu Amid Talent Exodus
