Snowflake, the American company specializing in data technologies and artificial intelligence, announced expected investments worth $300 million in its operations in Saudi Arabia until 2030, coinciding with the opening of its regional headquarters for the Middle East, Turkey and Africa in Riyadh.
Investment plans include launching two new cloud regions in Saudi Arabia during the second half of 2026, to support data localization and sovereignty requirements, in addition to Google Cloud’s cloud region in Dammam, which the company supports.
As part of its partnership with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Snowflake intends to enable up to 25,000 Saudi learners to acquire skills in data and artificial intelligence by 2030, through the “One Million Minds” program, which combines virtual and in-person training with practical applications.
Regional Vice President for the Middle East, Turkey and Africa at Snowflake, Michel Nader, said that the expected investment reflects the company’s confidence in the Kingdom and its digital future, noting that data, artificial intelligence, and human capital development represent basic pillars of the Saudi economic transformation. The announcement came in conjunction with data from the General Authority for Statistics, which showed an increase in the use of artificial intelligence among Saudi companies by 20 percent during the year 2025, on an annual basis.
The Japanese yen fell against the dollar during trading on Tuesday, driven by improved risk appetite and a weak euro, ahead of important central bank meetings this week that could affect expectations for global interest rates.
The yen fell 0.1 percent to 157.66 against the dollar, moving away from its highest level in a month, which it recorded last week, when demand for it increased as a safe haven.
The yen also suffered losses on Monday, while traders awaited the Bank of Japan's monetary policy decision later this week.
The Bank of Japan is expected to keep interest rates unchanged at 1.25 percent at its two-day meeting that ends on Friday, indicating its willingness to continue raising borrowing costs in light of escalating price pressures.
Data released on Tuesday showed that a key indicator of inflation in the services sector in Japan rose 3.7 percent in September compared to the previous year, indicating increasing price pressures, which makes it likely that the central bank will remain on its path towards further raising interest rates.
Moh Seong Sim, a currency expert at OCBC Bank, said the most important point to watch is whether the central bank will feel comfortable announcing that inflation has reached the target rate.
He added: “If they announce this during that meeting... it will serve as a stronger signal that they are proceeding with the path of normalization (of monetary policy),” even if this will happen gradually.
The yen was among the best-performing major currencies last week, when concerns about artificial intelligence in stock markets led to increased demand for it.
Sim noted that although it is too early to consider the possibility of a collapse in the artificial intelligence sector a major feature of the market currently, this matter may become a greater source of concern over the next year. He said that the value of the yen as a hedging tool is likely to increase during that period, a trend supported by reasons including the monetary tightening policy pursued by the Bank of Japan, in addition to the possibility of Japanese investors redistributing their domestic assets.
Four major central banks, along with the Bank of Japan, are scheduled to announce their monetary policy decisions this week. The Bank of Japan meeting will come after the meeting of the Federal Reserve (the US central bank), which expectations indicate that it will not raise interest rates during its two-day meeting that concludes on Wednesday.
The European Central Bank is expected to keep interest rates unchanged at 2.5 percent on Thursday, while the central banks of New Zealand and Canada are expected to raise interest rates during the current week.
On Tuesday, the dollar index stabilized at 102.11 points, near the highest level in two weeks, after the recovery in technology sector stocks on Wall Street led to a renewed appetite for risk, while investors awaited the results of major companies as well as the midterm congressional elections in the United States.
The dollar received support from the decline of the euro, which fell to its lowest levels in about two weeks against the US currency, amid concerns about the financial situation in France, which put pressure on the single European currency. The euro recorded $1.1171 in recent transactions, down by about 1.4 percent this month.
The New Zealand dollar rose 0.4 percent to 0.5702 against the dollar, amid widespread expectations in the markets that the New Zealand Central Bank will raise the official interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to reach 3 percent on the fourth day.
Decisive action
In addition, Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said on Tuesday that the government is ready to take decisive measures in the currency market.
“We always monitor market movements with a high sense of urgency, including right now,” Katayama added before Parliament, in response to a question about the impact that the government’s fiscal policy might have on the yen and changes in long-term interest rates.
