UAE AI minister named in Time 100 AI list
Omar Sultan Al Olama takes his well-deserved place in the TIME100/AI
#UAE #media - H.E. Omar Sultan Al Olama, the world's first government Minister of Artificial Intelligence, has been named in Time magazine's inaugural TIME100/AI list.
SO WHAT? - At just 27 years old, Al Olama was made UAE Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, a few days after the country's first National AI Strategy had been announced. In 2017, public opinion was divided on what value this new office would bring, but Al Olama championed the role helping the UAE position itself as a global leader in government AI policy and a shining example of how government's can harness new AI technologies.
The minister appears in the TIME100/AI list alongside luminaries such as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, CEO and Co-Founder of Google DeepMind Demis Hassabis, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang. Robin Li CEO and Co-Founder of Baidu and Tesla and X AI founder Elon Musk.
Al Olama is one of only two government ministers in the list. The other is Audrey Tang, Taiwan's Minister of Digital Affairs, a position that was created last year. Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice President of the European Commission, is also listed.
The UAE minister's listing is not only evidence of the UAE's success in developing and implementing its National AI Strategy and the role that he has played in it, but also the global influence that the UAE has gained via 'AI diplomacy', helping to shape government policy on AI worldwide.
IMO - When I first heard of H.E. Omar Sultan AlOlama's appointment as Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, I did wonder how long he would last! A young man 'thrown in at the deep end', with a practically non-existent portfolio, taking up a position that was created just days after the UAE's first National AI Strategy was announced.
However, through hard work and dedication - and, importantly, with the support of the UAE's president and prime minister who became early advocates for the huge role that AI will play in our futures - Al Olama has succeeded in style!
The minister not only provides the glue that holds the UAE's AI efforts together and has earned a global reputation as the ambassador for his country in this new space, but he has also become a role-model helping to inspire a new tech-savvy generation that are helping to build the UAE's future economy, and millions of others across the region. His TIME100/AI listing is well-deserved!
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