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Artificial Intelligence

News, insight and analysis of the developing AI industry in the Middle East, covering artificial intelligence companies and projects in UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and the entire region.

Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) director Dr Esam bin Abdullah Al-Wagait

IBM to help Saudi Arabia train AI models in Arabic

Saudi Arabia has signed a deal with US tech giant IBM to develop the kingdom’s generative artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities. The Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) said on Tuesday that its Arabic language AI model, ALLaM, will be trained on IBM’s platform to run more efficiently. This will also add new language skills […]

Visitors to the Edge of the World, a natural landmark and popular tourist destination near Riyadh. Interacting with local people is important, says the tourism minister

Pressure on Saudi tourism exposes mixed feelings about AI

Saudi Arabia is trying to limit the use of artificial intelligence technology in its expanding tourism industry in an effort to boost job numbers, despite strides being made elsewhere in the sector to make the kingdom a leader in digitalisation.  Speaking at an economic forum in Doha last week, tourism minister Ahmed Al-Khateeb expressed concerns […]

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the pledge ' sets a precedent for global standards on AI safety'

UAE joins AI safety pledge at UK-South Korea summit

Two artificial intelligence companies from the UAE have signed up to a new AI safety pledge and have committed to safe development of the technology. Abu Dhabi’s Technology Innovation Institute and G42 are among 16 names on the safety pledge that also includes Amazon, Google, IBM, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI and Samsung. The announcement was made […]

Bayanat says its AID data platform provided information to authorities during April's flooding in Dubai

Bayanat increases funding for climate disaster R&D

Geospatial services provider Bayanat has increased its investment into climate disaster research and development following a strong profit rise in the first quarter of 2024. Abu Dhabi-based Bayanat said gross profit for the first quarter reached AED32 million ($8.7 million), representing a gross margin of 28 percent. Revenues were 12 percent up year on year […]

Workers at a semiconductor plant in the Netherlands. Qatar's investment in France's Ardian comes as global demand for semiconductor chips is surging

QIA invests in French semiconductor fund Ardian

Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the country’s sovereign wealth fund, has announced plans to make an anchor investment in Ardian Semiconductor, a new entity established by the French private equity firm Ardian.  The move underscores the Gulf state’s bet on the crucial role of semiconductors in powering digital and green transformations in key areas such as […]

Saudi US China Amit Medha

Saudi Arabia willing to drop China for US tech alliance

Saudi Arabia will sever technology ties with China if the United States compels it to, the chief executive officer of Alat, an investment company backed by $100 billion in capital from the Public Investment Fund, has revealed. According to Bloomberg US officials have told their Saudi Arabian counterparts that they will have to decide between […]

Aramco rigs in the Hasbah oil field. It uses AI for oil exploration and underwater operations

Aramco leads the pack in oil and gas AI investments

Saudi Aramco invested around $3.5 billion in research and development last year and leads in adopting artificial intelligence, as it rivals its regional peers in the adoption of new technology. The world’s largest energy company was active in more than 250 areas, such as AI, drones, robotics, electric vehicles and hydrogen technology, a GlobalData report […]

UAE minister of industry and advanced technology and Adnoc group CEO Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber (top centre) will become chairman of AIQ

Presight takes majority stake in Adnoc-G42 AI venture

The data analytics company Presight is acquiring a majority stake in AIQ, a joint venture between Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) and G42. Under the agreement, Presight, an Abu Dhabi-listed company, will own 51 percent of AIQ, with Adnoc keeping the remaining 49 percent, a statement released on Wednesday said.  Previously, G42 held 40 […]

Dubai's appointment of chief AI officers is part of a broader push to adopt the technology

Dubai to appoint AI officers across all government entities

Dubai has ordered that all government entities must appoint a chief artificial intelligence officer, as part of a new drive to embrace the new technology. The Dubai Universal Blueprint for Artificial Intelligence was launched on Monday and as part of the initiative the new government AI officers will be tasked with leading specialised AI projects […]

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 […]