Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense, on Wednesday revealed plans to launch a futuristic city, ‘NEOM,’ whose borders stretch into both Egypt and Jordan.

The announcement ignited an overwhelming amount of conversation in the span of one week.

There have been over 60,000 mentions of the term ‘NEOM’ globally.

Over 75% of social media chatter was taking place in Arabic, followed by 24% in English.

This does not come as a surprise given that the highest volume of mentions was from Saudi Arabia, followed by the US and the UAE respectively. Some of the most used keywords on social media when discussing NEOM were ‘Vision 2030’, ‘Next Generation’ and ‘Future’.

NEOM was not the only buzzing topic surrounding Saudi Arabia on social media. ‘Sophia’, the first robot to ever be granted citizenship, was also mentioned over 4,000 times in one week alone.

According to Christo Van Wyk, Area Director at Meltwater India & Middle East, “The announcement comes in line with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 to diversify its economy and reduce dependence on oil. From what we’re seeing across social media there’s an overall positive sentiment when discussing NEOM.

Today, GCC countries such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE are distinguishing themselves as global leaders in technology and artificial intelligence.”

“From what we’ve seen online, the announcement has captured the attention of the public and sparked countless conversations on social media regarding Vision 2030.”