HUMAIN invests $3B in xAI; Dubai AI Week returns in April
Middle East AI News weekly digest...
Good morning!
Welcome to this week’s Middle East AI News email digest, brought to you by big data analytics and AI company Presight!
We have a jam-packed newsletter for you today, with news from across the region, including investment, R&D, telecom, enterprise implementations and the return of Dubai AI Week in April!
Scroll down for more news…
Finally, I’m delighted to announce fast-growing US-based developer of hardware and software for AI inference Positron AI as a new Sponsor for Middle East AI News!
Positron joins us at a pivotal moment, just after its $230M Series B fund raise and as it enters the Middle East market for the first time, following the recent appointment of Husni Khuffash as MENA Lead. You can reach out to Positron AI here.
Ramadan mubarak!
/Carrington
Funding
HUMAIN invests $3 billion in xAI Series E
#Saudi #funding - PIF-owned HUMAIN has invested $3 billion in Elon Musk’s xAI Series E round ahead of its February 2026 acquisition by SpaceX. The stake was converted into SpaceX shares, extending HUMAIN’s exposure following a 500MW Saudi AI infrastructure partnership announced in November. (Middle East AI News)
QIA joins $935 million Apptronik funding round
#Qatar #funjding - Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) has joined a $520 million Series A extension for US robotics firm Apptronik, taking total Series A funding beyond $935 million. The investment signals Doha’s intent to deepen exposure to advanced automation technologies. (Apptronik)
Deep.SA extends pre-seed with Vision Ventures
#Saudi #funding - Riyadh-based Deep.SA has added Vision Ventures to its pre-seed round, extending a SAR 4.5m raise previously backed by TAM and Raed Ventures. The startup builds locally hosted AI infrastructure and its alPlatform.ai to advance sovereign, regulation-aligned deployments. (Middle East AI News)
Dubai AI Week 2026
Dubai AI Week 2026 set for April return
#UAE #DubaiAIWeek2026 - Dubai Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Dubai Future Foundation will host Dubai AI Week from 6-9 April 2026 under the patronage of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed. The inaugural edition drew over 30,000 participants from 120+ countries. (Middle East AI News)
R&D
Khalifa University unveils RF-GPT model
#UAE #6G - Khalifa University has announced RF-GPT, described as the world’s first radio-frequency foundation model, it is capable of reasoning over wireless signals in natural language. Trained on 625,000 synthetic examples, the system could accelerate 6G development and intelligent spectrum management. (Middle East AI News)
Google.org backs MBZUAI language research
#UAE #grants - Google.org has awarded $1m to a research project of Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence in Abu Dhabi to advance AI for underrepresented languages. Led by Professor Thamar Solorio, the project develops resource-lean training frameworks for Arabic dialects and minority languages, reducing dependence on vast annotated datasets and compute. (Middle East AI News)
Qatar launches AIQAT research grants
#Qatar #grants - Qatar Research, Development and Innovation Council (QRDI) and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology have unveiled AIQAT, offering up to QAR 1 million per project over two years. The grants target healthcare, education and tourism, with emphasis on Arabic language models and privacy safeguards. (Middle East AI News)
AI adoption
80% of Gulf firms embed AI, gaps remain
#Saudi #adoption - A Roland Berger Middle East report finds 80% of GCC organisations now embed AI in board-level strategy, with 85% expecting higher budgets in 2026. Yet only a third have enterprise-wide data strategies or formal governance. (Middle East AI News)
Aramco and Microsoft seal industrial AI deal
#Saudi #sovereignAI - Saudi Aramco and Microsoft have signed a strategic industrial partnership to accelerate AI adoption across Aramco’s operations. The deal leverages sovereign-ready Microsoft cloud infrastructure to ensure national data residency, while advancing operational efficiency, digital optimisation and AI workforce development in engineering and cybersecurity. (Middle East AI News)
FAB scales AI across enterprise operations
#UAE #adoption - First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) has moved from AI pilots to enterprise-wide deployment, advancing more than 30 agentic AI use cases across trade, payments and compliance. FAB’s AI Innovation Hub drives governance and scalable implementation. (Middle East AI News)
Education
UAE tightens generative AI rules in schools
#UAE #education - The UAE Ministry of Education has introduced strict regulations governing generative AI in schools, banning use for students under 13 and prohibiting AI tools during formal examinations. The framework aims to safeguard academic integrity while guiding responsible AI adoption in the classroom. (Gulf News)
Polynome expands Abu Dhabi CAIO programme
#UAE #training - Polynome AI Academy and the Abu Dhabi School of Management have broadened the instructor line-up for their Executive Program for Chief AI Officer. April’s cohort includes leaders from NVIDIA, G42, Mubadala, BCG and AI71, reflecting rising demand for structured AI governance. (Zawya)
Morocco ministries partner with AXA Group
#Morocco #skills - Morocco’s Ministries of Industry, Higher Education and Digital Transition have partnered with AXA Group to strengthen national capabilities in AI, cybersecurity and data science. The initiative supports the Morocco AI 2030 strategy and wider digital government ambitions. (Morocco World News)
India AI Impact Summit
Saudi and UAE attend India AI summit
#Saudi #UAE #India - Saudi Arabia and the UAE sent senior delegations to the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in New Delhi. Gulf participation underscores deepening AI cooperation with India. (Middle East AI News)
Innovation
SVC unveils Aian private markets platform
#Saudi #investment - Saudi Venture Capital Company has launched Aian, a proprietary agentic platform transforming private market data into institutional intelligence. The system maps capital deployment across Saudi Arabia to improve allocation and investment decision-making. (Middle East AI News)
Telecom
Iraq-UAE plan $700 million data cable to Turkey
#UAE #infrastructure - An Iraqi-Emirati consortium has announced a $700m subsea and terrestrial data cable linking Fujairah to Turkey via Iraq. The WorldLink project aims to strengthen regional connectivity and meet surging infrastructure demand driven by AI and cloud expansion. (Reuters)
Omantel launches Otech for digital push
#Oman #investment - Omantel has launched Otech as a unified advanced technology provider, consolidating assets including Oman Data Park. Backed by partnerships with Oracle, PwC and Palo Alto Networks, Otech will deliver cloud, cybersecurity and AI services aligned with Oman Vision 2040. (Times of Oman)
AI diplomacy
UAE scientist joins UN AI panel
#UAE #governance - The UN General Assembly has appointed Dr Tuka Alhanai of New York University Abu Dhabi to its new Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence. She is one of two Arab representatives among 40 experts advising on global governance after the 2024 Global Digital Compact. (UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
[ This newsletter was both AI edited & human edited ]