LEAP 2026 opens in Riyadh with $15bn in AI, technology investments

Investment announcements worth more than $15 billion were made as LEAP 2026 opened in Riyadh on Monday, with funding directed towards artificial intelligence and emerging technologies.

The total is equivalent to about ₹1.25 lakh crore.

Saudi Communications and Information Technology Minister Abdullah Al-Swaha opened the fifth edition of the four-day event at the Riyadh Exhibition and Convention Centre in Malham, north of the capital.

Held under the theme “Into New Worlds”, LEAP 2026 brings together technology companies, investors and startups from several countries.

Al-Swaha said Saudi Arabia was moving from consuming technology to building it and taking a larger role in the global sector.

The Kingdom is developing infrastructure intended to support the deployment of artificial intelligence services and strengthen its position as an international technology centre.

Saudi Arabia plans to install more than 20 subsea internet cables by 2030.

The network is intended to provide high-speed connections with latency of less than 30 milliseconds to more than three billion people worldwide.

Saudi Arabia has allocated 80 square kilometres of land for large-scale AI data centres.

More than 12 gigawatts of power capacity has also been designated for these facilities.

AMD, Nvidia, xAI, Cisco, Qualcomm, Amazon Web Services and Humain are among the companies making investments across the Kingdom’s technology sector.

Saudi Arabia’s digital economy has grown by 70 per cent and is now the fifth-largest technology market globally, according to figures presented at LEAP.

The Kingdom follows the US and European Union member states in the rankings.

The Saudi technology sector employs about 411,000 people.

Women account for between 35 and 36 per cent of its workforce, described as the highest participation rate among G20 countries.

Saudi Arabia is also home to nine unicorn startups, each valued at more than $1 billion.

More than 1,000 investors attending LEAP 2026 manage a combined $14.3 trillion in assets.

The conference also includes representatives from more than 900 companies.

Google Cloud, Oracle, Dell, Adobe, Ericsson, Salesforce and Lenovo are among the event’s main sponsors.

LEAP 2026 is organised by Tahaluf in partnership with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming and Drones, Informa and the Events Investment Fund.

The program includes DeepFest, a dedicated artificial intelligence event.

LEAP also features 16 platforms and more than 20 specialised tracks covering sectors such as fintech, healthcare, smart cities, sport and drones.

The conference is intended to connect emerging companies with investors and potential technology partners.

Organisers also expect new agreements to support Saudi Arabia’s aim of becoming an international centre for AI and technology.

The 2025 edition of LEAP produced investment announcements worth $14.9 billion.