New Abu Dhabi AI body; World's biggest combat UGV deal

Middle East AI News weekly digest...

Jan 25, 2024

Good morning!

Welcome to this week’s Middle East AI News!

Too much news to fit in one newsletter this week! It’s been a struggle to cut it down short enough to send to you, so I’ll skip the usual summary! Please view via the website, if this email arrives truncated in your inbox.

Later today, I’ll be hosting Middle East AI News LIVE - THURSDAY DEEP DIVE on LinkedIn at 12 noon KSA | 1pm UAE time | 9am GMT!

I’ll be talking to Mohammad Arshad, co-founder of UAE-based consultancy, services company and community Decoding Data Science about data science trends in the region and the company’s new hackathon.

Click here to attend today’s THURSDAY DEEP DIVE!

And, if you are following the virtual asset space in the UAE Lara-on-the-block has just published an overview of the country’s crypto exchange landscape. Find it here.

Thanks for reading!

/Carrington

Policy

Abu Dhabi forms AI & Advanced Technology Council

#UAE #policy - Abu Dhabi formed a new Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Technology Council (AIATC) this week, to develop and implement policies and strategies related to research, infrastructure and investments in AI and advanced technology in Abu Dhabi. (Middle East AI News)

Government

Sam Altman to speak at World Government Summit

#UAE #events - AI is expected to be front and centre at World Government Summit next month. Dubai's annual gathering of presidents, prime ministers and business leaders, will welcome Jensen Huang, president of Nvidia, Yann LeCun, chief AI scientist at Meta, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. (Gulf News)

WEF

UAE launches Global TradeTech Sandbox

#UAE #WEF- The Ministry of Economy, the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development, and the World Economic Forum have launched a Global TradeTech Sandbox. The project aims to spark innovation in trade tech. (Emirates News Agency)

UAE to create AI platform for policymakers

#UAE #WEF - The UAE launched an AI powered platform to support policymakers at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week. The new AI platform will support policymakers, with a knowledge across key development sectors. (Zawya)

Mobility

Saudi announces Advanced Air Mobility

#Saudi #airmobility - Saudi Arabia has unveiled an Advanced Air Mobility initiative, which aims to support the Kingdom’s goals in sustainable technologies. The General Authority of Civil Aviation says that it will providing the necessary regulatory framework, and facilitate a test bed for advanced air mobility at NEOM. (Arab News)

TII and Maqta Gateway to develop AV concepts for AD Ports

#UAE #cargo - Abu Dhabi’s Technology Innovation Institute (TII) and ASPIRE have signed an agreement with AD Ports Group company Maqta Gateway to develop a series of AI and robotics proof-of-concept projects for unmanned vehicles. (Zawya)

Qatar concludes driverless bus trial

#Qatar #AVs - Qatar's Ministry of Transport has concluded a passenger-carrier autonomous bus trial, with Karwa bus service, together with Chinese manufacturer Yutong. The trial falls under Qatar's Autonomous Vehicles Strategy. (Zawya)

Investment

Al Moammar Information Systems invests in AI leaders

#Saudi #capital - Al Moammar Information Systems announced an investment of $5 million in AI startup Anthropic, as part of Anthropic's Series D funding round, and $5 million in ChatGPT developer OpenAI, Inc. via a private stock sale round. (Argaam)

R&D

ERDC launches leadership programme

#UAE #R&D - The Emirates Research Development Council (or ERDC) has launched the region's first R&D leadership programme. Overseen by the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology, the programme is run in collaboration with the Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC) and the Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences. (Emirates News Agency)

Space

Oman’s first satellite begins transmitting data

#Oman #space - Oman's first satellite, the Aman-1, transmitted its first images on Monday, which included images of Sohar Port and Freezone. The satellite is owned by Omani company ETCO Space. (Muscat Daily)

Corporate Moves

IBM opens Middle East headquarters in Riyadh

#Saudi #IBM - Global technology services company IBM has inaugurated its Middle East headquarters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this week. The government set a deadline for global firms to establish a regional headquarters in the Kingdom. (Arab News)

Education

Google to train Saudi students in machine learning

#Saudi #ML - The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, in collaboration with Google Cloud, has launched a training program in machine language analysis and AI to train Saudi nationals. (SPA)

Initiative helps 100 Emirati women to learn data labeling

#UAE #coding - The National Programme for Coders, Ureed.com, the region’s largest talent marketplace, and Meem Foundation, have launched AI-Forward, a free training programme in data labeling and annotation. (Emirates News Agency)

Oracle to help upskill 500 Dubai women in AI

#UAE #training - Dubai Business Women Council and Oracle will collaborate to upskill 500 UAE women professionals and entrepreneurs in AI. The initiative, called sAIdaty, supports the UAE’s National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence 2031. (Zawya)

Makeen trained 5,000 Omanis in AI and digital skills

#Oman #training - The Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology (MTCIT) trained 5,000 young Omanis in digital and AI skills last year, under 85 different training programmes. (Muscat Daily)

Gaming

True Gamers to create 150 eSports centres in Saudi Arabia

#Saudi #gaming - Saudi Arabia’s gaming industry is poised for a major uplift with UAE-based esports network True Gamers planning to establish 150 centres in the Kingdom at an estimated cost of $45 million. (Arab News)