Dubai unveils AI blueprint; Bahrain, Morocco mull new AI laws

Middle East AI News weekly digest...

Good morning!

Welcome to this week’s Middle East AI News!

Today’s newsletter a little delayed due to storm-related interruptions in the UAE!

Dubai this week announced a new blueprint for AI in the emirate, aligning existing public sector efforts to adopt AI and position Dubai as an AI hub, whilst providing a framework to create more AI plans and initiatives.

Also in the news, Bahrain and Morocco become the first Arab countries to propose specific AI laws. Although both proposed laws have yet to be reviewed by the respective parliaments, this is an indication of sentiment and how high AI has risen on government and political agendas.

Scroll down for more news!

Unfortunately, there’s no Middle East AI News LIVE today (no, not rain related!), but if you missed last week’s Thursday Deep Dive with Anton Alexander, CTO of Watad talking about the company’s 7 billion parameter Arabic LLM, then you can listen to the recording here.

Thanks for reading!

/Carrington

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AI Strategy

Dubai announces Universal Blueprint for AI

#UAE #AIstrategy - Dubai has announced the Dubai Universal Blueprint for Artificial Intelligence, to harness the potential of AI to achieve quality-of-life focused outcomes. The plan, announced by Dubai's crown prince this week, also aims to create an attractive environment for AI companies and global talent. (LinkedIn)

M&A

AIQ shareholder structure changes

#UAE #AIQ - Abu Dhabi-based AI and technology holding group G42, and its big data subsidiary Presight, have announced a new shareholding structure G42's joint venture with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), AIQ. G42's 51 percent shareholding will now be owned by Presight. (G42)

Advanced Air Mobility

ADIO signs advanced air mobility deals

#UAE #airmobility - Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO), signed a string of investment deals last week to accelerate the emirate's plans for commercial air taxis. ADIO signed agreements with eVTOL companies Archer, Joby Aviation and Ehang, plus electric seaplane manufacturer Regent. (News: Archer, Joby Aviation, Ehang, Regent)

Space

Saudi Space Agency & WEF to create space centre

#Saudi #space - The World Economic Forum and the Saudi Space Agency yesterday signed an agreement in Riyadh to establish the Center for Space Futures, a Centre under the Forum's Fourth Industrial Revolution programme. (Arab News)

Innovation Hubs

Automatic Arabic language centre opened

#Saudi #Arabic - The King Salman Global Academy for Arabic Language has opened the Arabic Intelligence Center in Riyadh, the first center for automated Arabic language processing. The strategic goal of the centre is to advance Arabic language innovation in AI. (Arab News)

Egypt and Italy to open AI centre for Africa

#Egypt #Italy - The Egyptian Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat and the Italian Minister of Enterprises Adolfo Urso agreed to establish a centre for AI in Cairo, aiming to advance AI development and application across Africa. The centre will provide training and support to African nations, and promote collaboration between Egypt and Italy. (Cairo Scene)

Robotics

Gecko Robotics, Al Masaood win $30m ADNOC Gas contract

#UAE #robotics - ADNOC Gas in Abu Dhabi, has awarded a multi-year robotics contract, valued at approximately 30 million dollars to Gecko Robotics, and Al Masaood Energy. Gecko set-up its international operations based in Abu Dhabi last year, under the UAE's NextGenFDI program. (Emirates News Agency)

Sentiment

Middle East industry to prioritise AI skills

#Sentiment - A new survey from US software company Autodesk finds that more than half of Design and Make industry professionals in the Middle East say the ability to work with AI is a key technical skill they will will be prioritizing for hiring decisions over the next three years. Download the report. (Zawya)

AI Policy

Bahrain mulls new AI law

#Bahrain #AILaw - Bahrain's Shura Council unanimously approved a new AI law this week, regulating the development of AI in the country and prohibiting the use of AI technologies for deception, manipulation or malice. The new 38-article law will now be drafted as legislation and referred to parliament for approval. (Zawya)

Bill submitted for Moroccan AI law

#Morocco #AIlaw - A parliamentary opposition group in the Morocco's upper chamber of Parliament has submitted a bill to regulate the use of AI. The bill focuses on the negative aspects and illegal uses of AI technology, and will likely be brought before the main parliamentary chamber. (Morocco World News)

Data Centres

Egypt opens government cloud centre

#Egypt #cloud - Egypt has opened it's first government data and cloud computing centre. Covering 13,500 square meters, and with a further 10,000 square meters reserved for future expansion, the hub data center will serve as the central repository for all ministry data. (Egypt Today)

EPR

TII & AppliedAI partner to support emergency responders

#UAE #EPR - Technology Innovation Institute (TII) and AppliedAI, both Abu Dhabi-based entities, are entering into a partnership to bring artificial intelligence (AI), new advanced materials, and secure infrastructure-less communications technology to high-stake, mission-critical emergency operations in the UAE. (Emirates News Agency)

Hackathon

NYUAD Hackathon for Social Good ends

#UAE #hackathon - NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD), in partnership with Tamkeen, has concluded the NYUAD Hackathon for Social Good in the Arab World. The annual event focused on tackling challenges in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) using quantum computing and AI. (Emirates News Agency)

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