Mubadala leads $100m round in People.ai: ‘Litigation without a judge’ in Dubai
Good morning,
Here’s your weekly roundup of Middle East AI News!
Announced yesterday, Mubadala Capital, the asset management arm of Mubadala, has co-led a $100 million investment in San Francisco-based People.ai. This falls in line with the state investor's ever-increasing focus on tech-related investments.
Meanwhile, a team from the Emirates ICT Innovation Center has won two awards in Computing UK's 2021 AI and Machine Learning Awards; Dubai's Rental Disputes Centre plans to use AI to process legal cases; and Expo 2020 Dubai has appointed an official drone services partner.
In other Expo 2020 news, the first of three robot mascots has arrived in Dubai! Scroll down for these stories and more.
Lastly, I'm going to recommend two tech interviews that I enjoyed listening to this week:
The first one is Charles Reed Andersen's interview with interim CEO of NTUitive David Toh on TechBurst Asia about the deep tech startup ecosystem and related initiatives in Singapore's initiatives.
And I can also recommend David Vellante's interview on TheCube with Google's head of data and analytics Bruno Aziza on data and analytics trends past, present and future.
Stay safe and have a great weekend!
/Carrington
Venture Capital
Mubadala co-leads $100 million capital raise for enterprise AI software firm People.ai — www.reuters.com
#UAE #USA #funding - Mubadala Capital, the asset management arm of Abu Dhabi's sovereign investor, and venture capital firm Akkadian Ventures co-led a $100 million investment for People.ai, bringing its valuation to $1.1 billion, the enterprise AI software startup said on Wednesday. (Reuters)
AI Justice
Dubai to use AI for ‘litigation without a judge’ — www.khaleejtimes.com
#UAE #realestate - Dubai’s Rental Disputes Center (RDC), the judicial arm of Dubai Land Department (DLD), plans to use AI to resolve rental disputes. The first-of-its-kind “Court Probe” project will process litigation without requiring a judge. (Khaleej Times)
Expo Dubai 2020
Opti, the first of Expo 2020's 'robot guardians' revealed by organisers — finance.yahoo.com
#UAE #robotics - Terminus Group, a developer of smart technologies, AI and robotics, and Expo 2020 Dubai this week revealed 'Opti' the Opportunity Pavilion guardian - the first of three 'robot guardians'. These will eventually be joined by about 150 service robots being deployed by the company for the six-month-long event. (Terminus Group)
Airscope appointed as Expo 2020 Dubai Official Drone Provider — airscope.ae
#UAE #drones - UAE-based drone services company Airscope has been appointed by the Expo 2020 Dubai organisers as the 'Official Drone Provider for Expo 2020'. Airscope will provide photography and video services to exhibitors and organisers at the event across the 4 square kilometre Expo 2020 site. All unmanned aerial vehicles in the area are to be managed by a dedicated Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management (UTM). (Airscope)
Digital Transformation
IBM AI officer: pandemic hastened AI adoption — www.thenationalnews.com
#UAE #AIadoption - The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of AI technologies as businesses digitised to adapt to the new normal, according to Seth Dobrin, IBM’s global chief AI officer in an interview with The National. An IBM survey of executives found that about 43 per cent said their businesses hastened the adoption of AI due to the crisis. (The National)
Space
Simera Sense to Provide KAUST with a hyperspectral payload — africanews.space
#Saudi #satellite - Simera Sense, which develops optical payloads for space missions, will provide a hyperspectral instrument with advanced onboard processing for the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology's (KAUST's) 6U Cubesat mission, which will launch towards the end of 2022. With powerful AI capabiltiies, the instrument will will provide enhanced monitoring of Earth’s ecosystems, such as improved metrics of vegetation health, precision agricultural insights. (Space in Africa)
Education
Dubai students create AI face-reading tool that tells teachers if their classes are boring — www.thenationalnews.com
#UAE #emotionrecognition- Two students at Murdoch University Dubai have developed an AI-based tool that scans pupils’ faces during classes to gauge their level of understanding. The system analyses facial expressions such as eyebrow raising, eyelid tightening and mouth dimpling to measure whether students are interested in the class. (The National)
Ain Shams University begins testing smart robot nurse 'Shams' — www.egyptindependent.com
#Egypt #robotics - Ain Shams University has begun testing an Arabic-speaking robot nurse, designed by students from its Faculty of Computers and Information, Faculty of Medicine, and Faculty of Nursing. The mobile robot recognises faces, can sterilize patients rooms, and has the ability to upload health patent health information. (Egypt Independent)
Smart Farms
AeroFarms, Nokia Bell labs partner for smart farms — www.fruitnet.com
#US #UAE #smartfarming - AeroFarms and Nokia Bell Labs have unveiled a multi-year partnership to leverage AI technologies for vertical farming. Aerofarms will use autonomous systems, integrated machine vision and machine learning to identify and track plant interactions at the most advanced levels. Aerofarms began construction of a state-of-the art research centre in Abu Dhabi earlier this year. (Fruitnet)
AI & Machine Learning Awards
EBTIC’s SPL team wins big at Computing UK's AI & Machine Learning Awards — www.ku.ac.ae
#UAE #UK #awards - The SPL team from the Emirates ICT Innovation Center (EBTIC) has won two awards in the prestigious 2021 AI and Machine Learning Awards, organised by the UK's leading business technology publication Computing. EBTIC won the award for the Best Cloud Automation Tool and the Best Use of Automation. (Khalifa University)
Events
AutoML Conference 2021 — machinelearning.co.il
#Israel #AutoML - Coding and data science community MDLI (Machine & Deep Learning Israel) will host an AutoML Conference 2021 (Sunday, 15 August). The virtual conference is sponsored by Outbrain and Pecan. (MDLI)
Opinion
AUS professor: Digitisation is killing jobs, but creating new ones, too — www.arabnews.com
#UAE #jobs - "To figure out how to live and work in a world full of robots and intelligent programs, we will need the insights and help of philosophers, sociologists and other social scientists as much as those of engineers and economists" - Nidhal Guessoum, professor of physics, American University of Sharjah. (Arab News)
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About Carrington Malin — www.carringtonmalin.com Carrington Malin helps large organisations, digital brands and fast growing tech ventures with brand, communications and go-to-market strategies.