Silver Lake invests $800m in Group 42; Cruise to supply Dubai robotaxis
Good morning,
Here’s this week’s roundup of Middle East AI News!
Well, the big news of the week broke yesterday, with Abu Dhabi-based AI and cloud computing company Group 42 announcing a 'substantial' investment from Menlo Park global technology investment firm Silver Lake. The Wall Street Journal disclosed that the investment was about $800 million, entitling Silver Lake to a minority stake in the group, according to unnamed sources.
Last year, sovereign investor Mubadala transferred ownership of Injazat and Khazna Data Centers (Khazna) to Group 42 in return for an equity stake. The deal boosted the group's headcount by more than 1,000 people. Outside the UAE, Group 42 has offices in Beijing, China and Tel Aviv, Israel.
Scroll down for more on links on this, plus Dubai's robotaxi plans, smart city news and the video link for the 'Next Frontier: Space Technologies' session of the World Economic Forum's Global Technology Governance Summit 2021, held last week.
Stay safe and have a great weekend!
/Carrington
Venture Capital
Silver Lake invests about $800 million for minority stake in Abu Dhabi’s G42 — www.wsj.com
#UAE #US #funding - Silver Lake is investing in Abu Dhabi technology company Group 42, in a sign of the private-equity firm’s deepening relationship with the emirate, the companies said Wednesday. The firm is investing about $800 million for a minority stake. (Wall Street Journal) also see The National and the official G42 press release.
Autonomous Vehicles
GM-backed Cruise goes international with autonomous shuttles in Dubai — mashable.com
#UAE #robotaxis - Dubai’s Crown Prince H.H. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum informed Monday that the San Francisco-based autonomous vehicle company Cruise will supply the the emirates's robotaxi shuttles. Cruise was selected to operate its Origin ride-sharing shuttles in Dubai as soon as 2023. (Mashable)
Huawei bullish about market for 5G-enabled self-driving cars in Middle East — www.thenationalnews.com
#UAE #AVs - Chinese technology giant Huawei sees huge scope in the area of electric and autonomous vehicles in the Middle East, supported by the roll-out of 5G connectivity in the region, according to Charles Yang, the company's Middle East president. (The National)
Education
Abu Dhabi University students win the third edition of EGA Industrial Robotics Competition — www.albawaba.com
#UAE #robotics - Abu Dhabi University (ADU) has announced the success of its students in the third edition of the Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) 2020 industrial robotics competition. (Al Bawaba)
Futuristic idea from Bahrain school student — www.gulfweekly.com
#Bahrain #robotics - Bahrain-based Amal Albadawi, a Creativity Private School student, developed an AI-powered Pharmabot that uses responsive sensors and screens to carry out medical and healthcare tasks that don’t require human intervention. Amal’s inspirational idea won her $2,000 in the ‘Tatawwar: Building Tomorrow’s Minds’ competition. (Gulf Weekly)
Smart Cities
Batic expands stake in Saudi smart cities firm — www.arabnews.com
#Saudi #SmartCities - Saudi investment firm Batic has signed an initial agreement to acquire 34.4 percent of of Smart Cities Solutions Company, it said in a bourse filing on Wednesday. Batic Investment and Logistics Company signed an MoU with Smart Parking Holding Company for the acquisition. The purchase price was not disclosed. (Arab News)
Zain partners with PASS to offer safe cities solutions to 'Shamiya and Shuwaikh' — www.zawya.com
#Kuwait #SmartCities - Zain Group, the leading digital service provider in Kuwait, signed an MoU with Kuwait-based platform PASS. As part of this joint collaboration, Zain will offer a wide range of smart cities solutions that meet the Ministry of Interior’s specifications, and the solutions will be integrated with the ministry’s backend systems. (Zawya)
AI Chatbots
Vodafone introduces AI-powered chatbot Labeeb — menafn.com
#Qatar #chatbots - Vodafone Qatar this week introduced Labeeb, an AI chatbot that is available for customers on the Vodafone App. A part of the Company's efforts to drive digital transformation in the market and customer usage of its digital channels, Labeeb is one of the first AI-powered chatbots in Qatar. (The Peninsula)
Spacetech
Video: The Next Frontier: Space Technologies — www.weforum.org
#UAE #spacetech - The UAE"s Minister of State for Advanced Sciences H.E. Sarah bint Yousif Al-Amiri took part in the 'Next Frontier: Space Technologies' session of the World Economic Forum's Global Technology Governance Summit 2021 last week, hosted by Japan. (WEF)
UAE is partnering with Japanese company ispace to launch a moon rover in 2022 — edition.cnn.com
#Japan #UAE #spacetech - Japanese lunar robotics company ispace will deliver a rover built by the United Arab Emirates to the moon in 2022, it announced Wednesday. A team of engineers and scientists from Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC), in Dubai, are building the rover, while ispace will transport it on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. (CNN)
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