This week’s top stories — 19-25 Apr
UAE to deploy agentic AI across government; DIFC set to become AI-native
This was the week that the UAE government set a two-year deadline to deploy agentic AI across 50% of government services.
In other news, Saudi government entities moved from experimentation to live emerging technology deployment; DIFC announced plans to become the world’s first AI-native financial centre; TokenAI released the Horus open-source LLM; and Khazna’s DXB8 data centre became the world’s first zero waste certified data centre.
Here are this week’s biggest AI news stories!
Monday, April 20th
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🔥 Algeria launches first AI & cybersecurity start-up cluster
Abdelhafid Ihaddaden cluster bridges academia and industry in Algeria
🔥 Egyptian open-source LLM Horus punches above its weight
TokenAI’s Horus 1.0 outperforms Llama 3.1 8B despite having half the parameters
Tuesday, April 21st
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🔥 Paragon-Adeer, Plug & Play to launch AI Campus in New Cairo
The AI 100 programme targets 100 Egyptian AI startups by 2030
🔥 Valeo opens AI Development Centre in Cairo
Valeo’s Cairo centre goes from R&D hub to global AI development base
🔥 DIFC set to become the world’s first AI-native financial centre
DIFC aims to leverage AI to create $3.5 billion economic impact and 25,000 jobs
Wednesday, April 22nd
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🔥 Signit raises $15M to build AI contract platform
Raed Ventures leads Signit round to expand beyond e-signatures
🔥 Khazna’s DXB8 data centre is world’s first zero waste certified
Dubai data centre diverts 99.55% of waste from landfill over 12 months
Thursday, April 23rd
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🔥 UAE to deploy agentic AI across 50% of government
UAE government sets two-year deadline for agentic AI transformation
🔥 76% of Saudi government now ready for emerging tech deployment
Government entities move from experimentation to live deployment
🔥 UAE aviation authority launches AI-enabled open data platform
GCAA’s open data platform brings AI-driven insight to civil aviation