Musk warned those involved that President Trump wouldn’t bless the OpenAI data-center project in Abu Dhabi unless his xAI company was included in the deal, according to people familiar with the matter.

Donald Trump's visit to the Middle East secured several business deals that indicate a desire to keep the U.S. ahead of China in the AI race.

Elon Musk tried to derail a major AI infrastructure deal in the Middle East, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to CNBC, following reporting by the Wall Street Journal. OpenAI, Oracle, Nvidia,