New Alat AI unit; Ehang eVTOL passenger trial in Abu Dhabi
New Alat AI unit; Ehang eVTOL passenger trial in Abu Dhabi
Middle East AI News weekly digest...
Good morning!
Welcome to this week’s Middle East AI News!
Lots of news to hare this morning! Saudi Arabia’s $100 billion electronics group Alat has announced a new AI Infrastructure unit, which will focus on HPC, AI chips and networking. The UAE signs its 10th bilateral digital infrastructure agreement, with plans to build a new data centre in Uzbekistan.
Meanwhile, Ehang announced its first passenger-carrying eVTOL test flight in Abu Dhabi. And HH Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, announces the Artificial Intelligence Retreat 2024!
Scroll down for more news!
No Middle East AI News LIVE today. However, I have some great shows organised for the coming weeks!
I’m hosting a great Middle East AI News LIVE - THURSDAY DEEP DIVE on Thursday, May 16th to discuss the UAE’s ascension as a 6G R&D hub with Professor Merouane Debbah, founding director of the 6G Centre at Khalifa University of Science and Technology. Register here.
Thanks for reading!
/Carrington
Manufacturing
Alat to form AI Infrastructure unit
#Saudi #infrastructure - Saudi Arabia's new #100 billion electronics group Alaat. has announced two new business units: Electrification, and AI Infrastructure. The Public Investment Fund (PIF) owned company plans to manufacture high performance computing systems, specialised CPUs, Big Data storage solutions, and networking infrastructure. The news was announced at Milken Institute Conference in Los Angeles on Monday. (LinkedIn / PRNewswire)
Alat seeks US AI joint venture partners
#Saudi #investment - Alat, the $100 billion electronics giant established by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), will announce partnerships with two U.S. tech companies by the end of June, according to the CEO. The group is seeking trusted, secure partnerships in the US” and has identified the US as the number one partner for Alat. (LinkedIn)
Data Centres
UAE could invest billions of dollars in overseas data centres
#UAE #datacentres - The UAE Ministry of Investment (Invest UAE) and Uzbekistan's Ministry of Digital Technologies last week signed an investment memorandum digital infrastructure with a focus on data centre and AI projects in Uzbekistan. It is the 10th such deal signed by the UAE during the past six months. (Middle East AI News)
Iozera to build 386 MW data centre in Tetouan
#Morocco #datacentres - Texas-based tech startup Iozera has partnered with the Moroccan government to build a state of the art 386 MW data center and AI Hub, in Tetouan, in the north of the country. The centre will help democratize access to GPUs for research and development, startups and business. (Morocco World News)
Advanced Air Mobility
Ehang’s first Abu Dhabi passenger flight takes off
#UAE #eVTOL - EHang Holdings, the manufacturer of a pilotless electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, has announced the first passenger-carrying demo flight in Abu Dhabi. Ehang signed partnership a agreement with The Abu Dhabi Investment Office (Adio) and the Multi Level Group last month. (Ehang)
RAK signs air taxi agreement
#UAE #eVTOLs - Vertiport operator and advanced air mobility enabler Skyports Infrastructure, has signed an MoU with Ras Al Khaimah Transport Authority and Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority. The three parties will design, develop, and operate Ras Al Khaimah’s first electric vertical take-off and landing air taxi ecosystem, commencing services by 2027. (RAKTDA)
Dubai RTA signs flying car accord
#UAE #SouthKorea #flyingcars - Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) and Seoul Metropolitan Government signed an agreement on Tuesday to boost collaboration on flying cars and autonomous vehicles. (Khaleej Times)
AI Strategy
Dubai to host AI Retreat in June
#UAE #events - The Government of Dubai will host an Artificial Intelligence Retreat next month, at the Museum of the Future. The retreat - organised by the Dubai Centre for AI - will bring together over 1,000 AI experts and specialists to discuss the challenges and opportunities presented by AI locally and globally. (Dubai Media Office)
Qatar launches digital endowment
#Qatar #endowments - Ministry of Endowments (Awqaf) and Islamic Affairs' has launched a digital endowment, as part of Qatar’s National Artificial Intelligence Strategy. The digital endowment will enable donors to contribute to the development of purposeful digital projects in various areas that serves the community. (QNA)
AI Law
Qatar mulls AI law
#Qatar #AIlaw - Qatar's Minister of Communications and Information Technology, His Excellency Mohammed bin Ali Al Mannai, has confirmed that the Ministry is cooperating with research institutions, including Hamad Bin Khalifa University, to study possible regulatory frameworks for AI. (The Peninsula)
Last Mile Delivery
Aramex deploys multi-compartment delivery robot at KAEC
#Saudi #lastmile - Aramex has deployed the first first multi-compartment robot used for last mile delivery at King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC), under an agreement signed with Emaar. The logistics firm will roll-out last mile delivery solutions phase-by-phase at KAEC, including delivery robots developed by Ottonomy. (LinkedIn)
Space
Oman space entrepreneurship workshop next month
#Oman #spacetech - Oman's Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology will hold a new space entrepreneurship workshop next month. The workshop falls under the recently announced National Executive Space Programme. (Oman Observer)
GenAI
AstroLabs announced Saudi chatbot
#Saudi #chatbots - AstroLabs, a leading business expansion platform, announced the launch of Najm, the first AI-powered Saudi expansion consultant chatbot. The AI technology is designed to offer assistance and information related to various aspects of business setup processes in Saudi Arabia. (BiznessTransform)
Call Centres
Xceed and Ministry to develop AI for call centres
#Egypt #callcentres - Egypt’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, and business process outsourcing group Xceed, will develop an AI-powered quality assurance automation application for call centres. (Daily News Egypt)
Education
New AI index for Arab universities
#UAE #education - The University of Dubai, and the Artificial Intelligence Journalism for Research and Forecasting, have announced the launch of the Arab Index for Artificial Intelligence in Universities. The global index is the first of its kind, analysing the integration of AI technologies in Arab universities. (Gulf News)
Hackathons
NYUAD hackathon uses new AI OS
#UAE #hackathon - Students at New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) took part in a two-day NYUAD AI Plugin and Product Development Hackathon this week. A collaboration between Abu Dhabi-based startup AIREV and NYU Abu Dhabi, the hackathon used AIREV's ON DEMAND AI operating system. (Emirates News Agency)
AI for Good hackathon
#UAE #hackathons - AI for Good Machine Learning in 5G Challenge was launched this week, inviting data scientists and researchers to compete to develop telecom GPTs and pave the way towards the automation of telecom networks through large language models. The challenge is organised in partnership with Technology Innovation Institute (TII), Khalifa University, and Huawei. (AI for Good)
Oman Challenge for IoT and AI
#Oman #hackathons - The University of Technology and Applied Sciences in Shinas hosted the fourth edition of Oman Challenge for IoT and AI, under the auspices of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority. 52 student projects were submitted from 11 academic institutions across the country. (Oman Observer)