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The Khashoggi Compromise
The Khashoggi Compromise
Jeff Bezos once mourned Jamal Khashoggi in public—now the Amazon billionaire is making billion-dollar deals with his executioner, which reveals more about his values than any vigil ever could.
Jon Passantino - Status
May 17, 2025
Earlier this week, Amazon announced a $5 billion “strategic partnership” with Humain, a Saudi artificial intelligence initiative backed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The deal, which includes the creation of a so-called “A.I. Zone” in the Kingdom, marks the latest phase in Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 campaign to pivot away from oil—and a stunning moral about-face for Jeff Bezos.
Just six years after his Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered and dismembered, at MBS’s direction, Bezos is going into business—and, thus, helping to enrich—the man who orchestrated it.
Amazon hailed the partnership as a “first-of-its-kind” effort to transform Saudi Arabia into a global A.I. leader. But it reads more like a public relations coup for MBS—and a cynical bet by Bezos. For all the crown prince’s talk of tech innovation, his true legacy is one of repression, surveillance, and state-sanctioned murder. Chief among his victims: Khashoggi, a father of four who was lured to a consulate in Istanbul under false pretenses of obtaining a marriage license and never emerged alive.
The CIA concluded MBS ordered the killing. (He denied doing so, though later claimed “full responsibility.”) At the time, Bezos offered comfort to Khashoggi’s fiancée, telling her at a vigil, “No one should ever have to endure what you did.” But in the years since, he’s moved steadily away from the values he once claimed to defend—replacing moral clarity with ruthless business calculation.
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Original:
https://www.status.news/p/jeff-bezos-jamal-khashoggi-saudi-arabia-ai-deal
Jeff Bezos once mourned Jamal Khashoggi in public—now the Amazon billionaire is making billion-dollar deals with his executioner, which reveals more about his values than any vigil ever could.
Jon Passantino - Status
May 17, 2025
Earlier this week, Amazon announced a $5 billion “strategic partnership” with Humain, a Saudi artificial intelligence initiative backed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The deal, which includes the creation of a so-called “A.I. Zone” in the Kingdom, marks the latest phase in Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 campaign to pivot away from oil—and a stunning moral about-face for Jeff Bezos.
Just six years after his Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered and dismembered, at MBS’s direction, Bezos is going into business—and, thus, helping to enrich—the man who orchestrated it.
Amazon hailed the partnership as a “first-of-its-kind” effort to transform Saudi Arabia into a global A.I. leader. But it reads more like a public relations coup for MBS—and a cynical bet by Bezos. For all the crown prince’s talk of tech innovation, his true legacy is one of repression, surveillance, and state-sanctioned murder. Chief among his victims: Khashoggi, a father of four who was lured to a consulate in Istanbul under false pretenses of obtaining a marriage license and never emerged alive.
The CIA concluded MBS ordered the killing. (He denied doing so, though later claimed “full responsibility.”) At the time, Bezos offered comfort to Khashoggi’s fiancée, telling her at a vigil, “No one should ever have to endure what you did.” But in the years since, he’s moved steadily away from the values he once claimed to defend—replacing moral clarity with ruthless business calculation.
Snip...
Archive:
https://12ft.io/proxy
Original:
https://www.status.news/p/jeff-bezos-jamal-khashoggi-saudi-arabia-ai-deal
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