Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO) Expands Global AI Collaboration with Saudi Arabia, UAE, and U.S.

By Ghazal Ahmed | May 14, 2025, 8:56 AM

We recently compiled a list of the 9 AI Stocks Poised to Gain from Trump’s Middle East AI Push. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) stands against the other AI stocks.

A White House Official said Tuesday that the United States does not need to block the global spread of its AI chips and technology to control national security risks, signaling a flexible approach toward sharing advanced technology to trusted allies such as Saudi Arabia.

When President Biden was in office, he tried to curb China’s progress in artificial intelligence by limiting access to powerful chips. However, President Trump is taking a different approach—one that encompasses offering US technology to countries on the condition that they avoid Chinese alternatives.

READ ALSO: 10 AI Stocks Surging on News and Ratings and 10 AI Stocks Making Moves This Week.

David Sacks, the White House's AI and crypto czar, signaled on the administration’s new stance only days after Washington announced plans to rescind and modify a previous regulation from the Biden era that would limit global access to artificial-intelligence chips.

"The Trump administration has just announced that we will be rescinding what's known as the Biden diffusion rule... it literally restricted the diffusion or proliferation of American technology all over the world. (Diffusion) is not a risk with a friend like Saudi Arabia at all but I think in general there was a great deal of misunderstanding about the diversion of GPUs.”

-Sacks said at the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum

These comments imply how the United States is now looking to deepen tech ties with Middle Eastern partners investing heavily in AI infrastructure and aiming to position themselves as a hub of emerging technology outside the United States.

Before these comments were made, Saudi Arabia and its neighbors saw their access to US chips limited under the AI diffusion rules imposed during the Biden era. However, Trump officials deem this as “misguided”, touting that there is no risk with “a friend like Saudi Arabia.” The Biden-era controls were rescinded by the Department of Commerce on Tuesday.

"The original reason for this diffusion rule is that we have a policy of not wanting our advanced semiconductors to go to what are known as countries of concern."

-David Sacks.

For this article, we selected AI stocks by going through news articles, stock analysis, and press releases. These stocks are also popular among hedge funds. The hedge fund data is as of Q4 2024.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points  (see more details here).

Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO): Among the Best Income Stocks to Invest in Now
Engineers using the latest Cisco TelePresence technology to collaborate with colleagues around the world.

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 84

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) is an American technology company that provides information technology and networking services. On May 13, the company announced that it will be joining Saudi Arabia’s AI startup HUMAIN’s alliance to build Saudi Arabia’s future AI Infrastructure. Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) and G42 will be extending their strategic partnership to boost AI innovation across the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the United States. Additionally, Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) will also be collaborating with AIP (AI Infrastructure Partnership) to boost investment in data centers and AI infrastructure in the United States, as well as globally.

“The pace of AI innovation today is unprecedented, and yet, what we’re able to do today is just a fraction of what will be possible in just a few years. For countries, organizations, and industries, the time to invest in key infrastructure, AI safety and security, and new skill development is now. Cisco is developing the critical technologies of the AI-era, and we’re thrilled to be working across the Gulf to maximize their impact.”

-Jeetu Patel, EVP and Chief Product Officer, Cisco.

Overall CSCO ranks 9th on our list of the AI stocks poised to gain from Trump's Middle East AI push. While we acknowledge the potential of CSCO as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than CSCO but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.

Mentioned In This Article

Latest News