Presight's 1B H1 results; HUMAIN builds new Arabic model
Middle East AI News weekly digest...
Good morning!
Welcome to this week’s Middle East AI News email digest, brought to you by big data analytics and AI company Presight!
Way too much news to include in one newsletter this week!
So, just a few mentions to save space: Presight announced stellar performance in H1 with AED 1+ billion revenue; HUMAIN’s CEO has revealed that the AI company will soon announce an Arabic foundation model; and the PIF shares how it has integrated AI across its operations in the fund’s annual report.
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ADX
Presight posts AED 1.09b H1 revenue, up 80%
#UAE #results – G42 company Presight reported record H1 2025 revenue of AED 1.09 billion ($300m), up 80% year-on-year, with EBITDA rising 59.6% to AED 245.5m. International revenue surged to 26.8% of Q2 totals, driving a AED 3.7b order backlog. (Middle East AI News)
Models
Saudi HUMAIN to launch Arabic foundation model
#Saudi #LLM – Saudi Arabia’s national AI company HUMAIN will release ALLaM 34B, an Arabic-centric AI foundation model trained from scratch for cultural and linguistic performance, by end-August. It will power the HUMAIN Chat suite for enterprise and sovereign use. (Middle East AI News)
UAE launches Arabic telecom AI model
#UAE #telecom – Khalifa University’s 6G Research Centre, in partnership with du, Nokia, Microsoft and the ITU, has introduced TelecomGPT-Arabic, the first Arabic-language LLM designed for telecom ops. The UAE-developed model offers real-time, culturally fluent support for telecom teams and customers. (Middle East AI News)
Core42 launches gpt-oss access at 3,000 TPS
#UAE #cloudAI – Core42 has rolled out global access to OpenAI’s open-weight gpt-oss-20B and gpt-oss-120B models via its sovereign AI Cloud, offering up to 3,000 tokens per second per user. The service supports Nvidia, Azure, and Cerebras platforms under UAE jurisdiction. (Middle East AI News)
GenAI
Agadir plans MAD 5m AI citizen services platform
#Morocco #government – Agadir is launching a Unified Intelligent Command Centre with an AI chatbot to manage citizen interactions across multiple channels. The MAD 5 million ($500k) project will centralise data, automate low-value tasks, and improve service quality and decision-making. (Morocco World News)
Oman debuts AI career advisor
#Oman #futureofwork – Oman’s Ministry of Labour has launched “Nadeem”, the country’s first AI-powered virtual career advisor, offering personalised guidance, job-matching insights, and labour market intelligence. (Oman Observer)
Startups
Madinah launches global venture studio
#Saudi #deeptech – Madinah Regional Municipality and DeepMinds have launched the Madinah Venture Studio to build purpose-driven deep tech, AI, healthtech, sustainability and ESG ventures. (Middle East AI News)
Dubai opens second AI government services accelerator
#UAE #accelerator – Dubai Centre for AI is accepting applications for its second Future of AI in Government Services Accelerator, running 6 Oct–28 Nov. The first cycle drew 615 companies from 55 countries, producing 75 public service pilots. (Middle East AI News)
HPC
Kuwait launches IKARUS HPC and AI platform
#Kuwait #HPC – Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) has unveiled IKARUS, the country’s first national high-performance computing and AI platform. Delivering 244 teraflops of processing power and five petabytes of storage, it will accelerate research in energy, environment, water, and health. (Kuwait Times)
Digital Transformation
Saudi’s $1T sovereign wealth fund embeds AI across operations
#Saudi #digitaltransformation – Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has integrated AI and automation across all operations, using valuation platforms, LLMs, and portfolio optimisation tools. The $1 trillion sovereign fund says the shift marks a move from digital transformation to digital leadership. (Middle East AI News)
Dubai RTA launches AI traffic platform
#UAE #smartcities – Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has rolled out “Data Drive – Clear Guide”, an AI traffic platform combining five years of historical data with live monitoring for instant congestion analysis and faster road management decisions. (Middle East AI News)
UAE MoHRE logs 18m+ smart transactions in H1
#UAE #government – The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation completed over 18 million smart transactions in H1 2025, integrating AI across operations. Offering more than 100 digital services, the ministry aims to boost efficiency and cut bureaucracy. (WAM)
CoEs
Kuwait Oil, Microsoft open AI Innovation Centre
#Kuwait #CoEs – Kuwait Oil Company has launched an AI Innovation Centre with Microsoft to embed AI in daily operations, boost efficiency, and accelerate Kuwait’s digital transformation agenda, supporting the nation’s sustainable economic goals. (Times Kuwait)
Deals
Qatar Airways, Accenture launch AI Skyways
#Qatar #aviation – Qatar Airways and Accenture have formed a strategic partnership to establish AI Skyways, aimed at optimising operations, enhancing predictive maintenance, and personalising customer experiences. The initiative aims to drive responsible AI adoption across the airline group. (Qatar Tribune)
Market
Abu Dhabi AI sector grows 61% in a year
#UAE #AIecosystem – Abu Dhabi’s AI sector has expanded 61% year-on-year to 673 companies, bolstering its position as MENA’s fastest-growing AI hub and a global innovation centre. (WAM)
Education
Saudi AI team wins four medals at Olympiad
#Saudi #AIeducation – Competing for the first time, Saudi Arabia’s AI team won four medals at the International Olympiad in AI 2025 in Beijing, facing 284 students from 85 countries. The win supports national AI talent development goals. (SPA)
SDAIA, Oxford launch AI engineering camp
#Saudi #education – Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) has partnered with Oxford University to run an eight-week AI application engineering camp for Saudi and international graduates. The programme covers computer vision, deep learning, and generative models. (SPA)
ADNOC boosts AI training at Technical Academy
#UAE #energy – ADNOC has integrated its AI-powered Neuron 5 tool into the ADNOC Technical Academy curriculum, training future Emirati engineers to predict equipment faults and improve reliability. The system has cut unplanned shutdowns by 50% and planned maintenance by 20%. (Zawya)
MCIT trains 22 Dreama students in AI, coding
#Qatar #training – Qatar’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, via its Studio 5 initiative, trained 22 Orphans Care Centre students in AI, programming, and robotics. The two-week summer camp featured smart city and weather-monitoring projects, fostering creativity and technical skills. (Qatar Tribune)
Islam
UAE, Egypt discuss AI use in fatwa issuance
#UAE #religion – The UAE’s General Authority of Islamic Affairs met Egypt’s Grand Mufti to explore using AI and digital technologies in issuing accurate fatwas. The talks, held in Cairo, aimed to enhance cooperation and address complex contemporary religious issues. (WAM)
Ethics
Saudi-led AI ethics initiative launched
#Saudi #AIethics – The UNESCO-backed International Center for AI Research and Ethics (ICAIRE) in Riyadh is inviting researchers worldwide to join a new programme on bias, fairness, cultural perspectives, and responsible AI design. (SPA)
Arts
Oman Film Society trains youth in AI filmmaking
#Oman #film – The Oman Film Society has completed a nine-day AI filmmaking workshop across three governorates, training over 75 young Omanis in scriptwriting, visual composition and AI content creation. (Muscat Daily)
[ This newsletter was AI edited & human edited ]