Science & Technology Galactic ambition: the UAE’s mission to Mars is just the start Fuelled by government investment, the UAE’s burgeoning spacetech sector is making a bid for interplanetary domination May 20, 2022
Exclusive Science & Technology How technology is transforming the UAE-UK trade relationship A quick look at the latest UAE-UK trade figures might give the impression that the centuries-old relationship isn’t what it used to be. But dig a little deeper and the figures – down sharply from close to £18 billion in 2018-2019 to £12.3 billion in the year to last September – can be explained by […] May 19, 2022
Exclusive Startups Make some noise for Anghami’s Elie Habib The Lebanese music streaming mogul talks to AGBI about the meteoric rise of his Nasdaq-listed company, its battles with music pirates, relocation to Abu Dhabi and his ambition to launch Arab music stars Elie Habib fell in love with coding early. He started selling software at the age of 17 and launched several companies in […] May 18, 2022
Opinion Science & Technology Why we must harness AI for the common good Artificial intelligence can and should serve goals such as sustainability and gender equity May 18, 2022
Banking & Finance Open all hours: inside the Gulf’s banking revolution The UAE’s first open banking platform is helping fintech and banks bring personalised services to customers, and is accelerating the regional growth of this progressive sector The Gulf has the potential to leapfrog other regions of the world, including Europe, with its adoption of open banking as bricks and mortar branches “slowly disappear”, according to […] May 17, 2022
Science & Technology Mobility tech firm Optibus valued at $1.3bn after raising $100m US-Israeli mobility technology company Optibus has raised $100 million in a private funding round that values the company at $1.3 billion. The funding came from new and existing investors including Insight Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, Verizon Ventures, Pitango First & Pitango Growth, Tencent, SOMV Momentum, and others, said Optibus, which has raised $260 million to […] May 16, 2022
Energy Aramco takes bite out of Apple as world’s most valuable company Saudi Aramco overtook US tech giant Apple as the world’s most valuable company yesterday, fuelled by a rise in oil prices The same global economic drivers that are buoying the energy company’s profits are adding to an inflation surge, dampening demand for technology stocks. Aramco traded near its highest level on record, with a market capitalisation […] May 12, 2022
Science & Technology Indian media giant signs Dubai blockchain deal Eros Investments, run by India’s Lulla family, plans to develop Web 3.0 and blockchain businesses out of Dubai as part of a partnership deal to operate under Dubai’s new virtual assets regulator, the company said on Tuesday. The deal is part of a push by the United Arab Emirates to become a global hub for […] May 11, 2022
Insight Science & Technology The UK-Saudi strategic trade partnership just got closer The UK’s withdrawal from the European Union and Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 plan are stimulating more and more investment deals May 9, 2022
Opinion Science & Technology Old friends, new vision: the Gulf and UK are shaping the future The Gulf's ambition, energy and skill coupled with Britain's heritage in innovation creates a formidable partnership that promises exceptional opportunities May 9, 2022
EXCLUSIVE Agriculture Abu Dhabi is harvesting technology to drive a farming revolution The Gulf region has historically imported around 90 percent of its food requirements, constrained by arid soils, scarce water resources and searing temperatures. But concerns about the impact of climate change on food production, coupled with the recent coronavirus-induced global supply chain crisis, are forcing governments to rethink food security. Technology solutions Abu Dhabi has […] May 9, 2022
Exclusive Science & Technology $136m landmark offers tantalising glimpse of tomorrow’s world The world-first Museum of the Future has a mandate to power the UAE's pioneering goals for the next 50 years, says Dubai Future Foundation chief Majed Jakka Al Mansoori May 9, 2022
Insight Science & Technology The mind-blowing numbers behind the Museum of the Future The Museum of the Future is a “living museum” aiming to contribute to a deep intellectual movement, connecting thinkers and experts and acting as a test bed to create innovative solutions for global challenges. Rising 77 metres above the ground the structure was built using robotic technology and with an emphasis on sustainability. The façade […] May 9, 2022
Science & Technology Cisco unveils technology to predict network issues Cisco Systems Inc on Wednesday unveiled a technology that it says can predict issues on enterprise networks before they happen to help prevent problems and increase reliability. The predictive software engine will gather data from various sources within a company’s network, learn the patterns and help engineers find hardware issues, bandwidth spikes and app configuration […] May 4, 2022
Science & Technology Binance registers with France crypto regulator, advances European plans Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has registered with France’s market regulator, Chief Executive Officer Changpeng Zhao said in a tweet, advancing the company’s plan to make Paris its European base. “It’s a real stamp of quality,” said Binance France’s General Manager David Prinçay, referring to the registration with the regulator, AMF. “The perception is changing. It allows […] May 3, 2022
Science & Technology Microsoft partners with Epic Games to bring ‘Fortnite’ to Xbox Cloud Gaming Microsoft Corp is partnering with Epic Games to make “Fortnite” available with Xbox Cloud Gaming, Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella said in a tweet on Thursday. The software behemoth has been looking to bolster its firepower in the booming videogaming market and earlier this year unveiled a $68.7 billion takeover of “Call of Duty” maker […] May 3, 2022
Science & Technology Facebook-owner opens access to AI large language model Facebook-owner Meta Platforms Inc is opening up access to a large language model for artificial intelligence research, the social media company said on Tuesday. Meta said its model was the first 175-billion-parameter language model to be made available to the broader AI research community. “Large language models” are natural language processing systems which are trained […] May 3, 2022
Analysis Technology Musk’s Twitter free speech promise may be tested in Middle East In a region where the local media is often controlled by the state, millions of people rely on social media platforms to follow news and express their opinions. Both Twitter and Facebook showed their potential to influence real-life events during the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings, when they played an outsize role in social upheaval. But […] May 3, 2022
Science & Technology Shopify’s revenue growth slowest in seven years, shares plunge Canada’s Shopify Inc reported its slowest quarterly revenue growth since going public in 2015 and delivered a big miss on profit, sending the company’s U.S.-listed shares tumbling 17 percent on Thursday. Easing global e-commerce growth from the frenetic pace seen during the peak of the pandemic has hit Shopify, which provides merchants tools and service […] May 2, 2022
Education Google gives $100,000 worth of tech training to every US business Alphabet Inc’s Google will provide any US business over $100,000 worth ofonline courses in data analytics, design and other tech skills for their workers free of charge, the search company said on Monday. The offer marks a big expansion of Google’s Career Certificates, a program the company launched in 2018 to help people globally boost […] May 2, 2022
Health Betting big on drug discovery, UK’s OMass Therapeutics raises $100m Betting on a fresh formula for the arduous, expensive and failure-prone field of drug discovery, UK-based OMass Therapeutics on Thursday said it has raised $100million in series B funding. Including the latest injection – led by a pack of prominent new investors including the Google Ventures and Sanofi Ventures as well as existing investors such […] May 2, 2022
Science & Technology Chip startups using light instead of wires gain momentum Computers using light instead of electricity for processing are gaining traction. And startups that have solved the engineering challenge of using photons in computer chips are getting big funding. Researchers say the technology could drive innovation in everything from quantum computing to driverless cars to artificial intelligence. California-based startup Ayar Labs is developing a technology […] May 1, 2022