Aramco ups stake in Hazen.ai; UAE approves facial recognition services
Good morning,
Here’s your roundup of Middle East AI News!
Not a big AI news week in the region, but some interesting storied nonetheless. These include traffic systems startup Hazen.ai's new funding round; the UAE's approval of facial recognition for private sector services and continued adoption of stock-taking robots by Carrefour.
Scroll down for these stories and more.
Stay safe and have a great weekend!
/Carrington
Startup News
Wa’ed raises investment in Hazen.ai, whose innovations make driving safe — saudigazette.com.sa
#Saudi #funding - Hazen.ai, a maker of intelligent traffic systems that use AI technologies to improve road safety, has received a follow-on investment from Wa’ed, the entrepreneurship arm of Aramco. The company this year won a global award from the International Road Federation for its traffic management systems, which combine the latest in machine learning, AI and computer vision technologies to spot and report negative driving behavior. (Saudi Gazette)
M&A
UAE-based Gibraltar Technologies buys India's HCL Infotech for $20m — www.dealstreetasia.com
#India #UAE #acquisition - UAE-based Gibraltar Technologies (GT) has bought HCL Infotech Ltd., part of the HCL Group for UAE 74.6 million ($20.3m). The AI-based digital solutions company will acquire the assets, 800 employees, and customer contracts managed by HCL Infotech. (DealStreet Asia)
Facial Recognition
UAE Cabinet approves trial of facial recognition technology — www.thenationalnews.com
#UAE #facialrecognition - The UAE Cabinet has approved the future use of facial recognition in public and private sector service delivery, pending the success of public/private sector trials under a pilot project. (The National)
Retail
Carrefour employs robots across its stores — gulfbusiness.com
#UAE #robotics - Carrefour has announced that it is expanding its #robot fleet, adding 11 more Tally Robots across select UAE retail stores to support stock management and control. Manufactured by Californian automation startup Simbe Robotics, Inc, Tally was the first robot to walk the shopping aisles of the Middle East. (Image Retail ME)
Healthcare
QF and Roche partner with the aim of taking precision medicine into mainstream healthcare — www.albawaba.com
#Qatar #healthcare - A new partnership between Qatar Foundation and an international pharmaceutical company Roche is aiming to advance precision medicine into mainstream clinical care in the country. Roche aims to apply its growing capabilities in AI and machine learning tools. (Al Bawaba)
Aviation
UAE students develop AI aircraft inspection algorithm for Lockheed Martin — gulfbusiness.com
#UAE #aviation - For a group of talented UAE students interning at Lockheed Martin in Masdar City, what started as an ambitious summer project turned into a real-world engineering breakthrough that could impact the company’s aircraft programmes for years to come. (Gulf Business)
Drones
SQU researchers build drone to detect COVID-19 cases in Oman — timesofoman.com
#Oman #coronavirus - A drone prototype which can detect COVID-19 symptoms from a distance of 10 to 15 metres has been built by researchers from Sultan Qaboos University in Oman. The prototype uses thermography to accurately calculate the skin temperature of targets using thermal cameras. (Times of Oman)
Media
Asharq News launches AI-powered vertical streaming across digital platforms — www.prnewswire.com
#UAE #media - Asharq News, a economic and political news service, is now delivering news content across multiple platforms with the launch of a mobile vertical live streaming format based on AI, for the first time in the Arab world. (PR Newswire)
Interview
Robots improve construction drilling process — www.meed.com
#UAE #robotics - MEED interviews general manager of ALEMCO Nathan Hanns about the collaboration with construction products and systems company Hilti Group on conducting trials of the Hilti Jaibot. (MEED)
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