In a scene that emphasizes Saudi Arabia's leadership in the world of technology and artificial intelligence, this year's Leap 25 conference witnessed the announcement of huge investments exceeding 7.5 billion dollars on only the second day of its events. This comes as part of a series of qualitative announcements in line with the Kingdom's ambitions to strengthen its position as a global center for technological innovation and artificial intelligence, and to build an advanced digital infrastructure.

Billions of dollars in investments

The fourth edition of the LIB conference kicked off north of the capital, Riyadh, with a total of $14.9 billion in quality investments revealed on the first day alone. These investments included huge projects in digital infrastructure and artificial intelligence, as well as support for startups.

Highlights of the announced investments:

Sustainable data center in collaboration with NEOM:
Data Volta announced a $5 billion investment to create the first fully sustainable data center in Oxagon with 1.5 GW of capacity, in collaboration with NEOM, a pioneering project in the world of sustainable data centers.

Data Volta announced a $5 billion investment to create the first fully sustainable data center in Oxagon with 1.5 GW of capacity, in collaboration with NEOM.

Al-Fanar Investments:

Al-Fanar has allocated $1.4 billion to develop four data centers with up to 88 GW of capacity, boosting the digital economy and providing cutting-edge business solutions.

Al-Fanar has invested $1.4 billion.

Mobily's infrastructure development projects:

Mobily announced $911 million in investments in strategic projects including submarine cables and data center development, boosting Saudi Arabia's digital infrastructure.

Zoom's investment in innovation:
Zoom is investing is investing $75 million to expand its operations in Saudi Arabia by establishing new data centers and supporting innovation in artificial intelligence.

SAR and SkyFive plans:

Saudi Arabian Railways (SAR) has allocated 51 million dollars to create a private fiber optic network.

SkyFive is investing $100 million in non-terrestrial communications services with a focus on the advanced air mobility solutions sector.

Startup Incentive Awards

Leap returns this year with significant prize money totaling more than one million dollars to support innovative startups. Highlights:

The $250K Leap Grand Prize for the best startup.
The Rising Star Award of $150K for startups with a strong start.

The $150K Tech for Humanity Award for startups that offer solutions that serve humanity.

The New Horizons Prize for Metaverse and Web3 projects, worth $150,000.
The Artificial Intelligence Award, valued at $150,000 for the best company offering groundbreaking applications in this field.
Prominent International Attendance
Sports personalities, executives and representatives from major sports organizations such as Formula E and the ATP Tour, as well as representatives from global clubs such as Newcastle United, Juventus, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur attended the conference, indicating the expanding interest in technology in various sports fields.

The conference was attended by sports personalities, executives and representatives from major sports organizations such as Formula E and the ATP Tour.

Continuous transformation towards a regional technology hub

. Yasser Al-Osaimi, spokesperson for the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming and Drones, confirmed that work is continuing in cooperation with the Ministry of Investment to attract international technology companies to open regional headquarters in Riyadh, thus strengthening the Kingdom's position as a major destination for technical investment.

Previous achievements and billions invested

The value of launches and investments in the past three editions of LEAP has reached $29.3 billion, while the previous edition's investments amounted to $13.4 billion, reflecting the significant growth of the conference year after year.

Previous achievements and billions invested

Previous achievements.