Sci-fi design concepts for The Line revealed; Dubai forms Future Tech committee

Middle East AI News weekly news digest...

Good morning!

Here’s your roundup of this week’s AI and emerging tech stories!

First, stealing global headlines, are the new architectural concepts for planned 170 kilometre long city at NEOM, The Line. Appearing to come straight out of science-fiction, the designs seem to have prompted a wide range of responses from praise, to astonishment, to scorn.

I'll just say this: with 170km of mirrored glass-walled exterior, The Line's going to need the world's biggest robotic window cleaning contract!

And as a follow-up to last week's announcement of the Dubai Metaverse Strategy, Dubai has announced the formation of a new 'higher committee' to oversee all digital intiatives including the metaverse strategy, chaired by Crown Prince, His Highness Sheikh Hamdan. So, now waiting for the announcement on what body/bodies will implement the strategy.

Scroll down for these stories and a few more (it's the end of July, after all!)

Stay safe and have a great day!

/Carrington

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Smart Cities

Saudi Arabia unveils designs for THE LINE, the first zero-gravity vertical city with no cars

#Saudi #NEOM - Crown Prince and Chairman of the NEOM Board of Directors, HRH Mohammed bin Salman announced the designs for THE LINE on Tuesday. According to the announcement, the 170km long city will will have an outer mirror facade to regulate the city's environment. (Designboom)

Also see the photo gallery on Arabian Business.

Startups

China’s Jaka Robotics fueled by Saudi Arabia’s Prosperity7 in global push

#Saudi #China #funding - Jaka Robotics, a Chinese startup that makes collaborative robots, has just pulled in a hefty Series D funding round of over $150 million from a lineup of heavyweight investors to help it expand globally. The round is led by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund Temasek, TrueLight Capital, Softbank Vision Fund II, and Prosperity7 Ventures. (Techcrunch)

Autonomous Vehicles

Navya raises €36m in convertible bonds in deal with Dubai-based Negma Group

#UAE funding - French autonomous shuttle startup Navya Group has signed a funding agreement with Dubai-based Negma Group for a total nominal amount of €36 million. The financing will take the form of convertible bonds. (Navya)

Navya signs distribution Middle East agreement with Electromin

#Saudi #AVs - French autonomous shuttle startup Navya Group has signed non-exclusive regional distribution agreement with turn-key emobility solutions company Electromin, part of Petromin Corporation. (BusinessWire)

RTA maps Dubai streets for Cruise robotaxis

#UAE #mapping - Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) and General Motors' driverless vehicle manufacturer Cruise began a digital mapping project on the streets of Dubai this month, using two Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles. (RTA)

Metaverse

Dubai forms Higher Committee for Future Technology and Digital Economy

#UAE #metaverse - The Government of Dubai has formed a new HIgher Committee for Future Technology and Digital Economy, chaired by Crown Prince of Dubai HH Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum. (Emirates News Agency)

Robotics

Egyptian students win first place in RoboCup Junior International 2022 Competition

#Egypt #competitions - Mawaheb BG won Egypt the gold medal at the RoboCup Junior International 2022 Competition in Bangkok for their invention. The competition was attended by 3000 contestants from 45 countries. (Lovin Cairo)

Texas A&M at Qatar and Carnegie Mellon Qatar organize VEX Robotics Qatar Championship

#Qatar #competitions - Sixteen teams participated in the second edition of the VEX Robotics Competition – Qatar Championship for high school students. The competition was organised by Qatar Foundation partner universities Texas A&M University at Qatar and Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar. (Qatar Texas A&M)

Defence

Bahrain Defence Forces select BATS C-UAS DroneGuard counter-drone systems

#Bahrain #antidrone - Bahrain Defence Forces have bought an undisclosed number of DroneGuard C-UAS systems and associated logistics and training services from Belgian Advanced Technology Systems (BATS), according to the firm. The systems will allow BDF to detect, classify, track and counter multiple drone targets. (Unmanned Airspace)

UAE mulled to be eyeing co-op with Turkish combat drone maker Baykar

#Turkey #UAE #UAVs - Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reportedly said the UAE was interested in cooperating with Baykar, the developer of the most famous Turkish combat drone, Bayraktar TB2, and offered to establish a factory in the Gulf country. (Daily News Sabah)

First published via Revue.