ATRC to launch 3 new tech ventures; Mubadala invests in Imagination
Middle East AI News weekly digest...
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Welcome to this week’s Middle East AI News, brought to you by OnDemand, an innovative AI platform which enables you to fast-track AI product development and seamlessly integrate AI and IoT apps into your environment.
Another busy week! Abu Dhabi’s ATRC announces plan to launch three new technology companies; NAVER moves forward with its massive digital twin project in Saudi Arabia; Mubadala firm invests $100 million in UK chip designer Imagination; Saudia confirms order for 100 Lilium electric jets. Meanwhile, Iran begins to move forwards with its national AI strategy.
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No Middle East AI News LIVE - THURSDAY DEEP DIVE this week. However, I have a full schedule of weekly shows lined up for August! Next week (August 1st), I’ll be talking to aiXplain regional managing director Husni Khuffash about the company’s recent $6.5 million funding round and MENA expansion. You can sign-up here via LinkedIn to attend on August 1st!
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ATRC
ATRC to launch three new tech ventures
#UAE #ATC - Abu Dhabi's Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC) plans to form three new high profile tech ventures by the end of 2024. Announced after an ATRC board meeting this week, the council's commercialisation arm, VentureOne, is preparing to launch a quantum-secure data security venture, a smart autonomous mobility venture, and a robotics agritech venture. (Middle Eat AI News)
Investment
Mubadala firm invests $100 million in UK GPU designer
#UAE #UK #semiconductor - Mubadala-owned Fortress Investment Group has invested $100 million (£77m) in UK-based chip designer Imagination Technologies via a convertible loan. The company designs GPUs that are used for computer displays, video games and artificial intelligence software. (Fortress)
Wa’ed Ventures invests $15 million in Korean chipmaker Rebellions
#Saudi #SouthKorea #semiconductor - Saudi Aramco’s venture capital arm, Wa'ed Ventures, has invested 15 million dollars in South Korean chipmaker, Rebellions . The investment will help the semiconductor company accelerate AI chip development and expand its operations into Saudi Arabia. (Arab News)
LLMs
KAUST releases MiniGPT-Med for radiology diagnosis
#Saudi #radiology - King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) have released MiniGPT-Med, a new vision-interfaced large language model, designed to provide faster and more efficient radiology diagnosis. The new model was built using Meta’s Llama 2 for the language component and the university’s MiniGPT-v2 as a vision-language alignment backbone. (Middle East AI News)
KAUST to build chemistry-specific LLMs
#Saudi #LLMs - King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) plans to build a foundation model for specific areas of research chemistry, via its new Centre of Excellence for Generative AI. The university shared with Middle East AI News that a future goal was to leverage such a foundation model to run a robotic chemistry laboratory. Such model could allow robotic labs to run 24 7, and maximise the throughput of research tests. (Middle East AI News Podcast)
SDAIA launches SAR 1 million Allam Challenge
#Saudi #LLMs - Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) has announced the Allam Challenge, which challenges AI developers to create new innovative solutions, with the Arabic large language model (LLM). Set to begin during the Global AI Summit in September, the competition will award prizes totaling SAR 1 million. Registration is open until August 20th. (Leaders MENA)
Digital Twins
NAVER partners with NHC for Saudi digital twins project
#Saudi #SouthKorea #digitaltwins - Saudi Arabia’s National Housing Company (NHC) and the cloud services unit of South Korean technology giant NAVER Corp, NAVER Cloud have signed a contract to build a massive smart city digital twin solution on Balady, the national municipalities digital portal. (LinkedIn)
AI apps
Dubai Ports & Customs launches AI app development platform
#UAE #apps - Dubai's Ports, Customs, and Free Zone Corporation has announced the launch of its interactive Dubai Customs AI Platform. The new platform enables developers to build AI-powered apps, whilst allowing small and medium-sized enterprises a space to work, collaborate with developers, and use models, data and code published by the community. (Dubai Media Office)
Core42 launches new AI cloud suite
#UAE #apps - Abu Dhabi based AI and cloud services provider Core42 has launched Compass 2.0, a new suite of cloud-based tools, APIs, and custom AI models. The platform allows organisations to use a variety of AI models and capabilities via one managed environment. According to Core42, the platform has processed 150 billion tokens since going live in January. (Zawya)
Aviation
Saudia confirms order for 100 Lilium electric jets
#Saudi #eVTOL - Saudia Group (Saudi Arabian Airlines) and Lilium, a leading electric aircraft manufacturer and pioneer in Regional Air Mobility (RAM), have signed a binding sales agreement for 50 Lilium Jets, with options for the purchase of 50 more. The agreement follows an MoU signed by Saudia in 2022 stating the intention to order 100 of the electric jets. (Saudia)
GACA and Lilium sign MoU for regulation development
#Saudi #aviation - Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) and Lilium have signed an MoU to collaborate on development and implementation of electric vertical take off and landing aircraft (eVTOL) regulation in the Kingdom. The goal is to jointly develop and implement the required eVTOL regulation for a potential operational Entry Into Service in 2026. (Yahoo!)
Abu Dhabi Airports and UAE ICP launch Smart Travel Project
#UAE #biometrics - Abu Dhabi Airports and UAE ICP (Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship), have launched a Smart Travel Project, which will use biometric systems to revolutionise passenger experience. The three-phase project will streamline passenger movements and the use of services throughout Zayed International Airport. (Abu Dhabi Media Office)
Digital Transformation
Saudi government adoption of emerging tech grows 10%
#Saudi #digitaltransformation - Saudi Arabia's government agencies have boosted emerging technology adoption by 10% in 2024, according to the Digital Government Authority's Emerging Technology Adoption Readiness Index. According to the report, the number of government entities implementing new solutions, increased from 60.35 percent in 2023, to 70.70 percent in 2024. (Arab News)
Smart mobility
Autonomous a2z to form joint venture with Bayanat
#UAE #SouthKorea #smartmobility - Korean startup Autonomous a2z, a technology leader in the autonomous driving sector, has announced that it will establish an autonomous driving joint venture with Abu Dhabi-based geospatial services company Bayanat. The new venture will serve as a2z's hub for the Middle East. (Wowtale)
Abu Dhabi Police, ATRC partner for R&D
#UAE #R&D - Abu Dhabi Police has partnered with the Advanced Technology Research Council (or ATRC) to collaborate on integrated research and development for artificial intelligence, security and mobility systems. (Abu Dhabi Media Office)
AI Strategy
Iran moves forward with national AI strategy
#Iran #AIstrategy - Acting President Mohammad Mokhber has ordered government bodies to implement the National Document on the Development of Artificial Intelligence which was ratified on June 18th. This follows the formation of a National Steering Committee and the National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Center. (Tehran Times)
Energy
Dragon Oil launches AI project in Egypt
#Egypt #UAE #energy - Dubai government-owned Dragon Oil has launched an AI project to develop the Morgan and Badri oil fields in Egypt. The project aims to enhance productivity, operational efficiency, and environmental sustainability of operations on the oil fields. (Emirates News Agency)
PDO to use robots for cleaning solar panels
#Oman #solar - Oman’s Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Development (RAID) laboratory, in collaboration with Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), has unveiled a locally developed robot designed to clean solar cells. The robot has already been used by PDO to clean hundreds of solar panels (Muscat Daily)
AI Diplomacy
5 Million Ethiopian Coders launched based on Dubai programme
#Ethiopia #UAE #training - 5 Million Ethiopian Coders was launched in Addis Ababa this week, a joint initiative between Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates. The programme is an offshoot of the One Million Arab Coders founded by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, and Ruler of Dubai in 2017. (Addis Standard)
AI Sentiment
Saudi, UAE industrial sectors forecast rising AI talent costs
#Saudi #UAE #sentiment - Honeywell's Industrial AI Insights global research study find that industrial AI uptake is just getting started. Among other findings, 78% of respondents in the UAE and 80% in Saudi Arabia expect to have pay more to attract A! engineers, while 49% of UAE respondents believe that allocating more time for skill development is seen as the biggest benefit for UAE workers. (LinkedIn)