New Saudi data law draft; Design tech startup CONIX.AI raises $1.3 million

Middle East AI News weekly digest...

Good morning!

Here’s your weekly roundup of Middle East AI News!

News on Saudi Arabia's news personal data protection law, or PDLP, this week! You may remember that the law was due to come into effect in March of this year, but was postponed following feedback from business and legal stakeholders. Well, this week the SDAIA shared an updated draft law via the government public consultation site. See the story from Data Guidance below for an update, plus links to the changes made.

Scroll down for more interesting stories and useful links!

Have a great day!

/Carrington

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Startups

CONIX.AI raises $1.3 million pre-Seed round led by BIM Ventures

#Saudi #Egypt #funding - UK-based and Egypt-born design tech CONIX.AI has raised $1.3 million led by BIM Ventures, announcing the commencement of its commercial operations in Saudi Arabia. (Wamda)

Saudi Arabia approves two new AI companies

#Saudi #AI - The Saudi Ministry of Finance has approved two more AI companies to operate in the kingdom. The ministry tweeted that Faceki and QVALON now have entrepreneurial licenses in Saudi Arabia. (Al Monitor)

Saudi Data Law

New Saudi draft data law published

#Saudi #datalaw - The Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA) has opened a new public consultation on the country's upcoming Personal Data Protection Law (PDPL), incorporating amendments following a round of public consultation earlier this year. (Data Guidance)

Digital transformation

Saudi Arabia’s digital government advances ranked 3rd globally by the World Bank

#Saudi #govtech - Saudi Arabia’s has been ranked the best in the region and third globally for its digital government transformation by the World Bank’s GovTech Maturity Index for 2022. The Kingdom has excelled with very high performance in its digital government transformation. (Arab News)

Education

Saudi Arabia wins 1st place in World Robot Olympiad, ahead of 73 countries

#Saudi #robotics - Saudi Arabia won first place in the World Robot Olympiad (WRO) Championship 2022, which was held in Dortmund, Germany, from Nov. 17 to 19. The global competition was open to young people in the age group of 8 to 19 years. (Saudi Gazette)

Microsoft and MTCIT launch ‘Build the Skills of the Future’ training programme

#Oman #training - Microsoft and The Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology (MTCIT) have launched ‘Build the Skills of the Future’ training programme focusing on cloud, data and AI. The initiative aims to train 10 thousand Omani digital skills by 2025. (Zawya)

AI Diplomacy

China’s tech outreach in MENA

#MENA #China #tech - Chinese companies, acting out of both economic and geostrategic motives, are providing much of the MENA region’s digital infrastructure. (The Diplomat)

Emobility

Saudi-backed Lucid EV cars get global launch

#USA #Saudi #Lucid - Just a few weeks after Lucid Motors opened their first Middle East studio in Riyadh, and four years after the Saudi government made its initial investment of $1 billion, the vehicle manufacturer held the global launch event for their debut line of electric sedans. (Arab News)

Saudi’s Red Sea Global signs deal for first fleet of electric buses

#Saudi #EVs - Red Sea Global (RSG) has signed an agreement with Electromin and Energy International Corporation to provide a fleet of electric buses. The vehicles are made by China’s Yutong, and European EV maker EURABUS. (Zawya)

Defence

3 weeks, 15 unmanned systems: Navy launches 'Digital Horizon' exercise in Middle East

#Bahrain #USVs - The US Navy this week launches a three-week event in Bahrain focused on employing AI and unmanned systems, featuring 15 unmanned systems, 10 of which will be operating with the Navy in US 5th Fleet for the first time. (Breaking Defense)

Over 100 unmanned vessels to be deployed in Gulf waters: CENTCOM

#Bahrain #USVs - A US-led task force will deploy over 100 unmanned vessels in the Gulf region’s strategic waters by next year to stave off maritime threats, the US Central Command chief said Saturday. (Arab News)

First published via Revue.