New Abu Dhabi tech investment strategy; Egypt sets $1.7b ICT budget
Middle East AI News weekly digest...
Good morning!
Welcome to this week’s Middle East AI News!
Abu Dhabi announced a major overhaul of its technology investment strategy this week, creating new investment company MGX to drive global and local investment in the sector. Also, Egypt sets ICT budget for 2024/2025, Archer plans to launch air taxi services in the UAE in 2025 and G42 announces BoardNavigator AI assistant.
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Investment
Abu Dhabi’s new global tech investment company
#UAE #investment - Abu Dhabi’s newly formed Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Technology Council (AIATC) has announced a new global technology investment company, called MGX. G42 and Mubadala have been named as foundational partners in the new company, which according to Bloomberg, aims to achieve a target of $100 billion of assets under management. (Middle East AI News)
Gulf Capital in deal to fund Saudi tech ventures
#Saudi #UAE #investment - Gulf Capital has signed an agreement with the Saudi Research Development and Innovation Authority (RDIA) to deploy over $100 million into Saudi technology sectors over the next five years. (Zawya)
HPC
Cerebras and G42 building next supercomputer
#UAE #US #supercomputers - Californian AI chip company Cerebras, and Abu Dhabi AI group G42 have broken ground on the site of Condor Galaxy 3, the third supercomputer in its network of supercomputer systems. Condor Galaxy 3 will deliver 8 exaFLOPs of performance with 58 million AI-optimized cores. (BusinessWire)
Air Mobility
Archer aims to launch UAE air taxis in 2025
#UAE #airtaxis - Californian eVTol manufacturer Archer has selected Falcon Aviation Services, as its vertiport infrastructure partner for key locations in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Archer confirmed two vertiport locations, Archer's Midnight flying car could be in operation in UAE and across the MENA region as soon as 2025. (Archer)
Fait Corporation gets royal family office backing
#UAE #funding - The Private Office of His Royal Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Faisal Al Qassimi is backing Australian aerospace company Fait Corporation, to develop and manufacture fully autonomous, dual-purpose aircraft in the UAE. (LinkedIn)
AI & Data Policy
SDAI publishes draft Data Sovereignty Policy
#Saudi #policy - Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) has issued a draft Data Sovereignty Policy. The document sets out four fundamental principles for preserving national sovereignty over data and is open for public consultation until April 9th. (LinkedIn)
Saudi issues security operations framework
#Saudi #security - Saudi Arabia's National Cybersecurity Authority (NCA) has issued a National Policy for Managed Security Operations Centers and a Regulatory Framework for Licensing governing such services. The NCA will begin receiving license applications from service providers this month via the national cybersecurity services portal. (SPA)
GenAI
G42 develops a virtual assistant for the boardroom
#UAE #GenAI - Abu Dhabi-based AI group G42 has developed BoardNavigator, a virtual assistant for the boardroom, able to analyse volumes of business data, financial information, market trends, and other indicators. The assistant is highly customisable , catering to the diverse needs of boardrooms worldwide. (Gulf Business)
Saudi TV channel introduces AI presenter
#Saudi #media - Saudi Arabic-language television channel and news portal Asharq News, has debuted a multilingual AI presenter, which is a lookalike of Asharq News anchor Hadil Eleyan. The AI version of the channel’s anchor can speak multiple languages including Russian, Spanish and Mandarin during live broadcasts. (Arab News)
Egypt ICT budget
Egypt sets $1.7b ICT budget for 2024/2025
#Egypt #budget - Egypt has allocated EGP 83.3 billion ($1.71b) for communications and I.T. investments in its 2023/2024 budget, a 48% increase compared to the estimated EGP 56 billion ($1.15b) spending during the 2023/2024 fiscal year, which ends June 30th. (Egypt Today)
Education
MBZUAI Executive Programme adds to curricula
#UAE #exectraining - The Executive Programme of Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), has added four new chapters: AI and its Current Paradigm Shift, AI Fundamentals, AI-Driven Industry Transformations, and AI Strategy, Policymaking, and Ethics. The 16 week course has now been attended by more than 150 C-level business and government decisionmakers. (MBZUAI)
SDAIA trains 1,900 women
#Saudi #training - Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) has trained over 1,900 women in advanced technologies, including coding, AI and data science. Education initiatives include the authority's Elevate Program, the SDAIA Academy, and SDAIA’s 5T training programme. (Saudi Gazette)
Data Centres
G42 and Olkaria to build data centre in Kenya
#Kenya #UAE #datacentres - Kenya's President, William Samoei Ruto, witnessed the signing of an agreement between G42, and Olkaria EcoCloud a Kenyan data centre company that prioritizes sustainability and renewable energy. Via the agreement, EcoCloud and G42, are to create a 100 mega watt data center powered by geothermal energy. (Emirates News Agency)
AI Development
IBM to build IBM Software Lab
#Saudi #development - IBM is to build an IBM Software Lab in Riyadh, with plans to invest more than 200 million dollars in talent and infrastructure. Announced at LEAP last week, the lab is expected to deliver next-generation hybrid cloud and AI solutions on an international scale. (IBM)
Telecom
Zain to establish AI and 5.5G centre of excellence
#Kuwait #CoE - Kuwaiti-headquartered Zain has announced that it will establish an Artificial Intelligence Center of Excellence, together with technology and telecom company Huawei. The centre will focus on AI-enabled communications services and 5.5G network automation. (Arab Times)