(Bloomberg) — Saudi Aramco’s venture capital arm has set aside $100 million to invest in artificial intelligence startups to accelerate Saudi Arabia’s efforts to become a more competitive force in the field of artificial intelligence. Global AI.

Wa’ed Ventures has appointed an advisory board made up of former employees of companies including Meta Platforms Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. to explore early stage investments in the sector. The money will be deployed over the next three years, according to the company.

“This investment will not only encourage local entrepreneurs, but also support the localization of global talents,” Anas Algahtani, Acting Managing Director of Wa’ed, said in a statement on Sunday.

The venture arm of oil giant Aramco, worth $500 million, has doubled down on AI this year, as Saudi Arabia aims to become a top 15 country in AI ‘artificial intelligence. The fund recently invested $15 million in South Korean chipmaker Rebellions Inc. and also participated in the funding rounds of AI platform aiXplain and Peter Thiel-backed company Tenderd.

Saudi Arabia’s AI strategy is to spend this decade using data and AI to drive the economic diversification agenda known as Vision 2030, and then become globally competitive after 2030.

The country is competing with the United Arab Emirates for AI investment, with both racing to set up expensive data centers to support the technology and become the regional tech superpower.

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