Saudi Deep Tech Venture Studio; PIF forms future electronics giant

Middle East AI News weekly digest...

Good morning!

Welcome to this week’s Middle East AI News!

Some big announcements made over the past week in Saudi Arabia, including the launch of a new electronics and semiconductor company, plans for driverless taxi services and a new Deeptech Venture Studio to be set-up in Riyadh with a mandate to create 500 deep tech startups in five years! Also news from the UAE, Oman, Qatar and Morocco.

Scroll down for all the latest news!

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 Maroua Nouira, program manager at the AI Factory, about the accelerator programme for AI startups in Tunisia.

Click here to attend today’s THURSDAY DEEP DIVE!

Thanks for reading!

/Carrington

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The Hashgraph Association to launch DeepTech Venture Studio in Riyadh

#Saudi #DeepTech - Swiss-based startup ecosystem The Hashgraph Association has signed a strategic partnership with the Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia (MISA) to launch a DeepTech Venture Studio in Riyadh, worth $250 million over the next five years. The studio will launch 500 new companies over the 2024-2028 period. (Middle East AI News)

Alat

Saudi create future electronics giant

#Saudi #electronics -Saudi Arabia last week announced the formation of an advanced technologies, electronics and semiconductor manufacturer called Alat. The new company will help to make Saudi Arabia a global hub for sustainable technology manufacturing. (SPA)

Alat names ex-Dell exec as CEO

#Saudi #electronics - Saudi Arabia has named a former Dell Technologies executive, Amit Midha, to lead a new electronics manufacturing group Alat, set up by the sovereign wealth fund P.I.F. to focus on technology investments. (The Circuit)

Startups

ATRC to launch more tech ventures

#UAE #ventures - Abu Dhabi's Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC), plans to launch a series of competitive and technology-driven ventures to strengthen Abu Dhabi’s position as a leading hub for advanced tech startups. The ATRC launched an AI company called AI71 in November. (Middle East AI News)

Core42 partners with AIREV

#UAE #startups - G42 services and solutions provider Core42, has partnered with Abu Dhabi-based Generative AI startup AIREV, developer of the UAE’s leading AI-powered EdTech platform, School Hack. AIREV will leverage Core42’s supercomputing capabilities and Jace, the world’s largest Arabic language open-source LLM to enhance its platforms. (Zawya)

Mobility

TASARU and P3 to bring robotaxis to Saudi Arabia

#Saudi #AVs - The new mobility company formed by Saudi's Public Investment Fund (PIF), TASARU has signed a binding agreement to invest in Croatian mobility solutions company P3, with a plan to introduce its driverless taxi technology to Saudi Arabia. TASARU also revealed investments in Holon and Recogni Inc. (Arab News)

Abu Dhabi to introduce autonomous water taxis

#UAE #USVs - Abu Dhabi plans to introduce autonomous water taxis for passenger transportation and unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) for cargo movement. The mobility solutions are a result of the collaboration between Technology Innovation Institute (TII), Aspire, and Maqta Gateway, part of AD Ports Group. (Khaleej Times)

Funding

Camb.ai raises $4 million in seed round

#UAE #funding - Dubai-based AI dubbing platform Camb.ai has raised $4 million in its seed round. The company's technology allows video producers to "instantaneously dub any performance in over 100 languages, dialects, and accents using the original voices. The investment round was led by Courtside Ventures. (The Hollywood Reporter)

M&A

stc arm aquires 40% of Devoteam Middle East

#Saudi #M&A - Solutions by stc has completed its acquisition of 40% of Devoteam Middle East, a subsidiary of Devoteam Group, bolstering its capacity to drive digital transformation in Saudi Arabia. The acquisition agreement was signed in October, based on a total valuation of SAR 741.7 million ($198m). (LinkedIn)

Healthcare

Alphaiota and SCAI partner for AI and data labelling

#Saudi #datalabeling - Healthcare technology provider Alphaiota and Public Investment Fund (PIF) owned Saudi Company for Artificial Intelligence (SCAI), will jointly develop AI models and data labelling services for the healthcare sector, according to e new agreement signed this week. (Eye of Riyadh)

R&D

Northwestern University in Qatar launches AI R&D initiative

#Qatar #R&D - Northwestern University in Qatar this week launched the Artificial Intelligence Initiative - names A.I. squared. The initiative is will make significant contributions to AI research, education, and professional development within the field of artificial intelligence. (The Peninsula)

Education

Oman to provide spacetech training

#Oman #spacetech - Oman's Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology has announced space tech training programme to help boost the number of Omani citizens active in the space industry. Developed in partnership with the Code Academy. three specialised workshops will be held to build capacity in space technology, satellites, and artificial intelligence. (Muscat Daily)

Sentiment

UAE consumers want human support

#UAE #chatbots - Some 90 per cent of UAE residents prefer to interact and communicate with human customer service representatives, rather than AI chatbots, according to a new study from e-commerce company Zbooni. The survey also found that 85 per cent of UAE customers want businesses to offer customer support through WhatsApp, the most popular messaging app in the country. (Khaleej Times)

Diplomacy

Morocco delegation visits Silicon Valley

#Morocco #USA #government - A 15-member delegation from the Moroccan government and private sectors will visit Austin, Texas, and Silicon Valley this month, to meet with technology companies and government departments. (USTDA)