Saudi chip fund will pull back from China if US demands it
The CEO of Saudi Arabia's semiconductor and AI chip investment vehicle says he is prepared to divest from the Chinese market if pressure is applied by Washington.
The state-backed fund has earmarked USD 100 million for chip-related projects, and so far it has been free to consider investments across all regions. However, in an interview, the CEO of the fund has declared that he is on the side of the US if the question of sanctions comes up.
"US is the number one market. US is the number one partner, and we hope we can partner more deeply," Alat CEO Amit Midha told Bloomberg during the Milken Institute Global Conference. "So far, the requests have been to keep manufacturing and supply chains completely separate, but if the partnerships with China would become a problem for the US, we will divest."
There is a precedent for the move. In the neighbouring UAE, the G42 fund reportedly scaled back its Chinese operations to comply with US agreements. It did so to maintain access to US technology such as Nvidia chips.
