Trump and Gulf capitals bet on artificial intelligence

Donald Trump attracted US$4 trillion in investment to the US on his trip to three Middle Eastern countries, one-sixth of the US GDP, which means that the capital pool from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has turned en masse to investing in American high-tech, synonymous with artificial intelligence.

This has crucial significance in world history, placing the United States at the forefront of 21st-century capitalism, accelerating the process of global integration guided by the instantaneous technology of artificial intelligence.

What is in sight is the beginning of a period of global prosperity (a rise in per capita GDP above nominal GDP), which, by its very strength, unifies the system while deepening the national identities of the countries that comprise it.

In this way, Teilhard de Chardin's maxim is confirmed : everything that rises converges and the truth is fully manifested in each of its phases, which makes the path always more revealing than the results.

In Saudi Arabia, Trump emphasized that the rate of investment in the U.S. increased 22% in the first quarter of the year and that more than $10 billion in investments have been committed during this period.

Apple, he noted, will invest $500 billion over four years, and Nvidia a similar amount, but with the addition of relocating its entire supply chain to the North American economy. Both Apple and Nvidia warned that their parts and component suppliers will have to automate all of their work.

Added to this is the fact that TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company), the world's leading producer of semiconductors or chips, will invest US$200 billion over the next two years.

What Trump is doing on this trip to the Middle East, in short, is channeling the vast amount of capital from the Gulf countries toward the re-industrialization of the United States, supported by high technology, while ensuring full energy dominance in the global system.

In terms of the global accumulation process, what is happening in the US/Gulf States relationship is the opposite of the previous stage of globalization that unfolded until 1991, when large transnational corporations moved their production chains to Asia (China) and used their own capital in combination with an abundant and cheap labor force.

Now the US is using Gulf capital to fully deploy AI on its own territory, thereby accelerating the global integration of the system.

At the same time, Trump embraces a policy of affirming national identity in the region and urges its countries to deepen the historical roots of their political legitimacy, discarding the cosmopolitan and hegemonic attempts of the main centers of the Western elite.

The key point is to note that Trump places the systematic pursuit of prosperity, founded on peace and trade, as the crucial foundation of this historic undertaking.

Trump's addition to this premise is the absolute predominance of military power.

It is this strategic framework that makes possible the success of major transformation processes like the one being undertaken by Prince Mohammed bin Salman, when more than half of Saudi Arabia's income now comes from non-oil activities.

What is underway, in short, is the process of global capitalist integration under the conditions of the instantaneous artificial intelligence revolution; and the political-strategic axis of this crucial process is unequivocally the United States.

It's a strategic game that works along the following lines: Qatar bought 210 state-of-the-art aircraft (Boeing 787s/Dreamliners) from Boeing for $243 billion, which constitutes "...the largest jet purchase in the history of the North American company," as Trump emphasized.

Qatar is home to the Pentagon's Central Command Forward Base, which is responsible for ensuring the security of the entire Middle East.

U.S. defense spending totals $1.1 trillion, a 13% increase from 2024, implying increases in military personnel stipends, accompanied by a drastic reduction in senior leadership, with a 20% cut in the number of four-star generals and Fleet admirals.

In Abu Dhabi (UAE), Trump announced the construction of the largest Artificial Intelligence data center outside the US, which will require the use of more than 2 million Nvidia GB200 chips, until now restricted to North American territory by explicit prohibitions by the Joe Biden administration, which Trump now appears to have lifted.

It's clear that the American leader doesn't believe in restrictions and prohibitions as a meaningful way to compete with China, but rather advocates for a cooperative and open phase regarding artificial intelligence. This is the same thing implicit in the historic Geneva negotiations between Scott Bessent and He Lifeng.