The Trump administration is clearing a path for two key Persian Gulf allies to pursue their artificial intelligence ambitions — and some of the biggest US tech companies are seizing on that opening with plans to spend billions of dollars in the region.

U.S. President Donald Trump met with Syria's president in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday and urged him to normalise ties with longtime foe Israel, after a surprise U.S. announcement that it would lift all sanctions on the Islamist-led government.

Donald Trump hailed the Syrian president as a “young, attractive guy” after the first meeting between the nations’ leaders in 25 years.The meeting in Riyadh on Wednesday came after the president made a surprise announcement that the U.

Trump is again diverging from U.S. presidential habit by choosing the Middle East, not Canada or Mexico, for the first foreign trip of his second term. He's hoping to do deals with three of the region's wealthiest countries.