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Artificial intelligence

The uncrewed Cygnus space freighter, from which were launched two satellites built by students from Abu Dhabi's Khalifa University

Shareholders to vote on merger to create UAE space giant

Shareholders of two Abu Dhabi technology companies will vote on Thursday on a proposed merger to create a $4 billion space organisation.  Bayanat AI and Al Yah Satellite Communications Company, better known as Yahsat, will hold their general assembly meetings simultaneously. The proposed merger will create Space42, an AI-powered space technology champion for the Middle […]

The total value of projects under construction in Masdar City is estimated at AED1 billion

Masdar City has up to $1bn of projects at design phase

Masdar City, Abu Dhabi’s sustainability-focused urban community, is working on projects in critical sectors of the UAE, backed by investments of between AED3 and AED4 billion ($817 million and $1 billion). The projects include energy, artificial intelligence (AI), space, life sciences and agriculture, the UAE state-run Wam news agency reported, quoting CEO Ahmed Baghoum. He […]

Microsoft president Brad Smith and G42 CEO Peng Xiao (right) sign the $1.5bn investment deal in the presence of G42 chairman Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan

Microsoft invests in UAE’s AI leader G42 

The US tech giant Microsoft will invest $1.5 billion in the Abu Dhabi-based artificial intelligence (AI) company G42 to help accelerate its global expansion strategy. As part of the deal G42 will run its AI applications and services on Azure, Microsoft’s cloud computing platform. Brad Smith, vice-chair and president of Microsoft, will join the G42 […]

Emirati director Nayla Al Khaja. Her film 'Three' is currently being shown in UAE theatres in Mandarin using Camb.ai's AI translation programme

Dubai startup helps AI-voice cloning take centre stage

A YouTube video released in January of Novak Djokovic shows the tennis star speaking fluent Spanish at a post-match press conference.  While the Serbian champion is renowned for speaking several languages, in this case his voice was created by an artificial intelligence tool developed by a Dubai-based startup, Camb.ai. The original Djokovic footage was taken […]

The operations centre at Saudi Aramco's Dhahran HQ. A 2012 cyberattack on the company wiped out data on 30,000 computers

Saudi Arabia steps up battle against AI cyberattacks

Twelve years after hackers brought oil production at Saudi Aramco to a halt for more than a week, Saudi Arabia is still susceptible to cyberattacks, a study had found. A survey of 8,000 private sector companies in 30 countries by Cisco AI Readiness Index revealed that the number and impact of attacks was rising and […]

People, Person, Adult Formula One F1 - Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia - March 9, 2024 Chairman of Aramco's Board of Directors HE Yasir O. Al-Rumayyan is pictured on the grid before the race REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

Saudi Arabia to create $40bn AI fund

Saudi Arabia plans to create a $40 billion fund to invest in artificial intelligence, The New York Times reported on March 19, citing three sources briefed on the plans. Officials of the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund – the Public Investment Fund – have discussed a potential partnership with US venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and […]

Saudi Arabia's first robot, Sara, is inspected by a visitor at Leap in 2023. This year she was joined by a male counterpart, Mohammad

Saudi Arabia ‘leads GCC’ in adoption of robotics

The rising number of robotics companies in Saudi Arabia has helped the kingdom become a regional leader in the adoption and development of the technology, experts have told AGBI.  The number of robotics companies registered in the country surged to 2,344 in the second quarter of 2023, up from 1,537 a year earlier, according to […]

A planned Dar Global development in Oman. The company aims to shake up real estate marketing with AI

Dar Global spin-off to use AI in real estate marketing

Dar Global, the London-listed arm of the Saudi Arabian real estate developer Dar Al Arkan, is establishing a venture dedicated to finding technological solutions to real estate companies’ biggest challenges. Ziad El Chaar, CEO of Dar Global, told AGBI that the company’s new Propgenuis spin-off would introduce tools aimed at automating social media management for […]

Adnoc's command centre in Abu Dhabi. The company is using AI to streamline routine maintainance activity

Adnoc claims AI generated $500m in extra value

The Abu Dhabi state oil company Adnoc said it generated $500 million (AED1.84 billion) in extra value by using artificial intelligence solutions in 2023. The energy major has deployed more than 30 AI tools across its value chain, from field operations to corporate decision-making, in an effort to increase efficiency and productivity. “We have integrated […]

Visitors at the Leap Technology Conference in Riyadh

Saudi Arabia backs tech startup sector with $888m

Saudi Arabia has announced investments worth $888 million to support the local tech startup and venture capital sector. The funds will support industries such as digital payments, e-gaming and artificial intelligence (AI). The announcement was made on the second day of the Leap international technology conference taking place this week in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia has […]

Saudi Aramco's digital transformation means 'tasks that used to consume hours can now be completed in seconds', says CEO Amin Nasser

Aramco launches world’s first industrial AI model

Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company, has launched a generative artificial intelligence model. The Aramco Metabrain AI, a first for the industrial sector, has 250 billion parameters, or learnable variables, which it adjusts during training to make predictions or generate outputs. It was trained on 7 trillion data points gathered over the company’s 90-year […]

PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan said the kingdom has ample funds to foster AI's development

Saudi wealth fund pitches kingdom as global AI centre

The governer of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, expects the kingdom to emerge as a centre for artificial intelligence activities outside the US. “We are fairly well positioned to be an AI hub outside of the US,” Reuters reported, citing the Public Investment Fund governor’s speech at a Miami investment event. The head […]

SpaceGuardian is a joint venture between Saudi Arabia's Front End Limited Company and New York-based SpaceKnow

US-Saudi venture will use AI to analyse space data

A US-Saudi joint venture has been launched in the kingdom to use satellite imagery to monitor infrastructure development, traffic congestion and carbon sequestration, the natural process of CO2 storage in the atmosphere. Front End Limited Company, based in Alkobar, the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, and SpaceKnow, a New York technology company dedicated to transforming […]

Shorooq partner Tamer Azer says the VC firm is excited about investing in a 'different generation' of companies in sectors such as gaming

VC firm Shorooq focuses on AI, biotech and gaming

Venture capital company Shorooq Partners will target companies specialising in sectors such as artificial intelligence, biotech and gaming, a senior executive told AGBI. Shorooq is based in Abu Dhabi and manages about $350 million in assets and invests in startups in the Middle East and North Africa and beyond. It is focused on on fintech […]

AI cybersecurity arab woman computer screen

Mena cybersecurity spend grows to $3.3bn to fight AI crime

Spending on cybersecurity and risk management in the Middle East and North Africa will rise 12 percent in 2024 to $3.3 billion, the research group Gartner is forecasting. The rise in spending is a reaction to the growing use of generative AI to create fake information and fake images for use in cybercrime. Shailendra Upadhyay, […]

G42’s stake in the TikTok owner ByteDance was estimated at $100 million, according to data provider PitchBook

Cutting ties with Chinese companies ‘not easy’ says G42 CEO

Abu Dhabi artificial intelligence (AI) company G42’s decision to sever ties with Chinese businesses was difficult, CEO Peng Xiao said on Monday. He was speaking at the World Government Summit in Dubai. G42 has accepted constraints imposed on it to work with US companies, he said, citing the need for governments to safeguard the technology. […]

Kaust hopes its new project will improve diabetes testing

Saudi university developing AI for early diabetes detection

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (Kaust) said this week it is working with Saudi company AmplifAI Health to develop AI technology for use in the early detection of diabetes.  Saudi Arabia and the UAE in particular are investing in health technologies that can predict medical risk and help develop medicines, and the kingdom […]