The venture arm of Saudi conglomerate Aramco reportedly invested in start-up Ori, a UK-based AI cloud company already backed by Spain-based operator Telefonica.

Bloomberg reported Wa’ed Ventures, which has a venture capital pot of around $500 million, made an undisclosed investment in Ori which will be used to establish a regional subsidiary in Riyadh.

The move points to increasing investment from Saudi companies into AI as they look to advance the technology in the country.

Aramco has notably been boosting its presence in the technology sector in recent years, establishing a digital arm in January 2023 with the goal of tapping AI and emerging technologies, along with possible private network plays for enterprise.

To that end, it is also using Wa’ed Ventures to plough cash into AI, with the unit previously backing South Korean chipmaker Rebellions and platform provider aiXplain. In total, it has set aside $100 million to invest in start-ups.

On its website, Ori states it supplies AI infrastructure to large organisations and is one of the first companies to deploy Nvidia’s H200 chips. It was founded in 2019.

Telefonica is listed as one of its backers, along with US-based NextEra Energy. It recently closed a £140 million funding round.