Why so many CEOs crossed paths with Trump in the Middle East, from Sam Altman to Jensen Huang

President Trump’s trip to the Middle East this week freely mixed business and diplomacy as he came across more than 50 CEOs and executives during his whirlwind trip from Saudi Arabia to the United Arab Emirates, according to a Yahoo Finance tally.

Many of the big names appeared during a stop at the Royal Court of Saudi Arabia that had at least 19 top CEOs in attendance — from OpenAI’s (OPAI.PVT) Sam Altman to Nvidia’s (NVDA) Jensen Huang to Citigroup’s (C) Jane Fraser.

These types of visits were nonstop as the president continued on to Qatar, trying to capitalize on a wave of enthusiasm around artificial intelligence in the region. He also encouraged all types of investment in both the US and the Middle East while pushing the ethical boundaries of his own business dealings.

The focus on AI was particularly striking, with Trump mingling with AI executives to open his travels and then wrapping things up Thursday with the groundbreaking of an “AI campus” in Abu Dhabi.

The trip was also an opportunity to reemphasize the influence of Elon Musk, who again appeared by Trump’s side at multiple stops.

One consistent message from Trump throughout the trip was increased business investment.

During a stop in Saudi Arabia, he hailed a region that he said is “forging a future where the Middle East is defined by commerce, not chaos; where it exports technology, not terrorism; and where people of different nations, religions, and creeds are building cities together — not bombing each other out of existence.”

What Trump’s outsized efforts will translate to in the years ahead remains to be seen, but the trip boosted multiple stock prices for this week at least.

Boeing (BA) shares hit 52-week highs after CEO Kelly Ortberg joined Trump at multiple stops and then announced a large plane order from Qatar Airways.

Trump also eased restrictions on artificial intelligence chip exports to Saudi Arabia during a meeting with Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman in a move that helped the price of Nvidia jump.

The focus on semiconductors and artificial intelligence was perhaps the biggest business-world focus of the highly anticipated trip.

“The relationship between the United States and the Gulf has changed in the past 10 years,” noted Middle East Institute senior fellow Mohammed Soliman in a live Yahoo Finance appearance, calling the region increasingly a “very powerful player in the AI ecosystem globally.”

Other CEOs, meanwhile, voiced concerns about the global economy in the wake of Trump’s trade war, with BlackRock (BLK) CEO Larry Fink saying at a Saudi-US Investment Forum during his trip that trade uncertainty still has Western investors holding back.