Tourism Saudi Arabia plans tourist flights into the stratosphere From 2026, well-heeled tourists in Saudi Arabia will be able to book a day trip that is out of this world: a near-space flight priced at $164,000 per person. Halo Space, a Madrid-based company that is developing a craft for flights into the Earth’s stratosphere, has chosen the kingdom as one of its departure bases […] March 21, 2024
Tech Meta faces legal action in Turkey over data sharing Turkey’s competition authority on Monday imposed an interim measure on Meta Platforms meant to hinder data sharing between the Instagram and Threads platforms as it investigates possible abuse of the company’s dominant market position. In December the authority launched an investigation into Facebook parent Meta over a possible violation of competition law by linking its social media […] March 19, 2024
Tech Hong Kong most likely for IPO listing of Dubai’s Telegram Telegram, the Dubai-based messaging app known for its encryption features and large group chats, is most likely to target Hong Kong for its potential listing, experts have said. This preference stems from the challenges its founder, Pavel Durov, might face in Western markets due to his Russian nationality. Durov said in a Financial Times interview […] March 18, 2024
Tech UAE’s G42 to build green data centre in Kenya Abu Dhabi artificial intelligence company G42 has said it will develop a one-gigawatt (GW) data centre in Kenya powered by geothermal energy. The new facility, developed in partnership with Kenya’s EcoCloud, will boost cloud computing and AI services, the Abu Dhabi Media Office reported, citing a company statement. The EcoCloud-G42 mega data centre will have […] March 18, 2024
Analysis Tech 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 […] March 14, 2024
Analysis Trade Digital economy focus of UAE-Malaysia trade talks The UAE is expected to sign a free trade deal with Malaysia by the end of June as the latter courts more investment to develop its digital economy. Talks on establishing a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (Cepa) began last year and Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz, Malaysia’s minister of investment, trade and industry, said the two […] March 13, 2024
Exclusive Real Estate 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 […] March 13, 2024
Opinion Tech Think local: the best weapon in the fight to topple an e-commerce giant A Mena startup can outwit a global behemoth if it uses its insider knowledge of its customers March 12, 2024
Tech Oman’s growing space sector attracts $52m in investments Oman has attracted investments worth OMR20 million ($52 million) in its growing space sector over the past two years, a senior government official said. The investments have increased after the issuance of the executive space programme last year, Dr. Ali Al Shidhani, under-secretary of communications and IT at the ministry of transport, communications, and information […] March 8, 2024
Video length: 05:25 VIDEO Infrastructure Saudi data centre sector attracts global investment Saudi Arabia has emerged as one of the most attractive destinations for global players looking to build and operate data centre facilities in the region. This was one of the prominent trends evident at Leap, the technology event taking place this week in Riyadh, where numerous tech companies revealed plans to enter the market to […] March 7, 2024
Tech UAE funds back investments in African startups Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company and French national investment bank Bpifrance have co-invested in an Africa-focused venture capital fund. At the same time, Dubai Future District Fund, launched in 2020 by Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has also invested in the Partech Africa II VC fund. The capital investments of the two […] March 7, 2024
Artificial intelligence 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 […] March 6, 2024
Tech 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 […] March 6, 2024
Tech Yahsat 2023 profit rises to $116m on revenue growth Al Yah Satellite Communications Company, known as Yahsat, said net income grew 9 percent to AED424 million ($116 million) in 2023, driven by revenue growth across all operating segments. Revenue grew 6 percent year on year to AED1.7 billion, with all four operating segments exceeding the top end of the previous guidance range of AED1.6-1.7 billion. […] March 6, 2024
Artificial intelligence 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 […] March 6, 2024
Trade Tech deal aims to improve UK-Saudi trade engagement The UK and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement on Monday aimed at elevating science and technology links and trade growth opportunities. Officials said the deal will pave the way for the UK and Saudi Arabia to work together on deep science and technology breakthroughs that underpin progress in tackling challenges such as food security and […] March 5, 2024
Tech Amazon to invest $5.3bn in data centres in Saudi Arabia Amazon Web Services (AWS), the cloud division of Amazon, is to invest $5.3 billion (SAR20 billion) in establishing data centres in Saudi Arabia. The move will allow customers to run workloads and securely store customer content within the kingdom, as well as offer high-speed access to users. “Today’s announcement supports Saudi Arabia’s digital transformation with the […] March 5, 2024
Aviation Aviation spends billions on IT to improve experience The aviation sector invested billions into IT in 2023, as companies sought to improve passenger experience, according to a new industry report. Global airports increased their IT spending by 23 percent year on year to almost $11 billion last year, while airlines upped spending by 15 percent to $34 billion, according to the 2023 Air […] March 4, 2024
Tech e&’s $6bn pledge to advance ‘affordable’ connectivity The UAE’s e&, the telecommunications company formerly known as Etisalat, has committed $6 billion to improve network connectivity and digital services across its 16 operating countries in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. The investment pledge was made to the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) Partner2Connect Digital Coalition, which will help drive technological advancement, infrastructure development, […] March 3, 2024
Renewable Energy EGA’s industrial data centres go green Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), the UAE’s largest non-oil industrial company and one of the world’s largest aluminium producers, has broken ground on the first industrial data centres in the emirates to be totally powered by renewable energy. The two data centres in Jebel Ali and Al Taweelah will be developed in collaboration with Scientechnic, a […] March 1, 2024
