Saudi designates 2026 as Year of Artificial Intelligence
Five landmark initiatives have already been announced this year
#SaudiArabia #policy – Saudi Arabia’s Council of Ministers, chaired via video conference by Crown Prince and Prime Minister His Royal Highness Mohammed bin Salman, has approved the designation of 2026 as the Year of Artificial Intelligence, reconfirming AI’s top priority and supporting the Kingdom’s national AI ambitions. The country has already announced a number of key AI initiatives this year, spanning national AI workforce training, a mandatory university AI curriculum, the world’s largest planned government data centre, a nationwide industrial IoT and edge AI network, and Saudi Arabia’s accession to the OECD-hosted Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence.
SO WHAT? – Designating 2206 as the Year of Artificial Intelligence is a clear signal that the Kingdom’s strategic intent with regard to AI remains as strong as ever, despite the extraordinary challenges faced this year. Although the announcement is made in March, there have already been a number of significant AI-related announcements this year. These include SAMAI 2, a nationwide public sector capacity building programme launched by SDAIA in partnership with 11 government ministries. The initiative will empower the workforce in targeted government sectors to adopt AI technologies, increase productivity and enhance workplace efficiency via specialised training and awareness programmes.
Here are some key points about the Kingdom’s focus on AI:
Saudi Arabia’s Council of Ministers has designated 2026 as the Year of Artificial Intelligence, providing the highest possible level of national endorsement for the Kingdom’s AI agenda.
Saudi Arabia ranks first globally in public sector AI adoption, with approximately two thirds of government workers using AI tools daily according to the Public Sector AI Adoption Index 2026, and leads across all five index dimensions: enthusiasm, empowerment, enablement, embedding and education.
Earlier this year the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) launched the SAMAI 2 workforce AI initiative in partnership with 11 government ministries. Building on SAMAI 1 which empowered more than 1.1 million Saudi citizens with AI training and accredited certifications, SAMAI 2 targets AI literacy and capacity building across public sectors.
Saudi Arabia has also introduced a mandatory National Cross-Disciplinary Curriculum for Data and AI across all undergraduate disciplines at Saudi universities. SDAIA signed MoUs with 14 public and private universities in February to embed AI literacy across all academic disciplines rather than confining it to computer science departments.
In January, SDAIA broke ground on the Hexagon Data Centre, planned to be the world’s largest government data centre by capacity. The 480 megawatts data cetnre is being built on a 30 million square foot site in Riyadh, strengthening national data sovereignty and supporting government AI deployment at scale.
Earlier on Tuesday, Saudi Aramco has reported a Technology Realised Value (TRV) of $5.3 billion from AI, digital and other technology solutions in its annual results report. The update brings the cumulative TRV to $11.3 billion since 2023.
Also announced this year is Aramco Digital’s launch of Saudi Arabia’s first nationwide industrial communications network operating in the 450 MHz band, covering more than 50 industrial zones and supporting industrial IoT and edge AI.
Saudi Arabia recently announced that it has joined the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI), a policy development initiative hosted by the OECD originating from the G7.
Saudi Arabia’s National Strategy for Data and Artificial Intelligence (NSDAI), launched in 2020, set ambitious 2030 targets including ranking among the top countries for AI, creating 20,000 AI and data specialists, and attracting billions of dollars of in AI and data infrastructure investment. In reality, the Kingdom has achieved many of these goals already.
ZOOM OUT – Saudi Arabia's public sector AI leadership is already well documented by independent global research. In February 2026, the Public Sector AI Adoption Index 2026, produced by UK-based research consultancy Public First for Washington-based think tank the Center for Data Innovation, ranked Saudi Arabia first globally. Saudi Arabia is also ranked first for Government Strategy in Tortoise Media's Global AI Index and ranked first in the Middle East and Africa in the Government AI Readiness Index 2025 from Oxford Insights.
[Written and edited with the assistance of AI]
Read more about Saudi Arabia’s AI adoption:
Aramco AI & tech delivers $5.3B in value (Middle East AI News)
Saudi Arabia becomes member of OECD-hosted GPAI (Middle East AI News)
Saudi Arabia leads world in public sector AI adoption (Middle East AI News)
SDAIA launches national data and AI university curriculum (Middle East AI News)
Saudi Arabia launches SAMAI 2 workforce AI initiative (Middle East AI News)