UAE to add AI to all school curricula; Presight Q1 results
Middle East AI News weekly digest...
Good morning!
Welcome to this week’s Middle East AI News!
Big news to share this week! I’m proud to announce Presight - a leading international big data analytics and AI company - as a new Strategic Sponsor of Middle East AI News! It’s great to be partnering with one of the UAE’s most notable AI success stories. Presight is also a part of the G42 Group. Discover more about Presight here.
Presight has also just announced blockbuster results for Q1 2025, with revenue increasing by 115% YoY. Meanwhile, lots of impressive news for the region’s education sectors this week! The UAE announced plans to add AI studies throughout all government schools starting in September. In Saudi Arabia, SDAI is making progress with plans to train 1 million Saudi citizens. And a recent report discloses that SDAIA’s data and AI education programmes have already trained 790,000 people!
And Cisco signed a promising deal with G42 on Wednesday, aiming to develop advanced digital infrastructure for high performance computing.
Scroll down for these stories and more.
Thanks for reading! And do check out our new sponsor, Presight!
/Carrington
Education
UAE to roll out AI curriculum for schools
#UAE #education - The UAE will make AI a core subject across all government schools, from kindergarten to grade 12, starting next academic year. The new curriculum, covering 300,000 students, integrates technical and ethical AI training—making it one of the world’s most ambitious national AI education initiatives. (Middle East AI News)
Saudi Arabia urges SAMAI registrations for AI training
#Saudi #skills – Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) is calling on citizens to register for SAMAI, its national initiative to train one million people in AI. The programme ranks among the largest global AI upskilling drives and is core to Saudi Arabia’s inclusive AI strategy. (Middle East AI News)
Saudi Arabia trains 779,000 in AI and data skills
#Saudi #skills - Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA)has confirmed that more than 779,000 Saudis have received training in data and AI skills, part of the kingdom’s push to build national AI capacity. Programmes span schools, universities, and government, with key initiatives including the ALLaM Challenge and AI Olympiad. (Middle East AI News)
Results
Presight Q1 revenue surges 115% to AED 563.9 million
#UAE #enterprise – Presight reported AED 563.9 million ($153.5) in Q1 revenue, a 115% year-on-year jump. Backed by G42, the company secured AED 1.44 billion in new orders and increased international revenue fivefold, supporting its global ambitions in enterprise AI and smart city solutions. (Middle East AI News)
Infrastructure
G42 and Cisco team up to expand global AI infrastructure
#UAE #infrastructure - Abu Dhabi’s AI powerhouse G42 and global networking leader Cisco have signed an agreement to develop secure, scalable AI infrastructure across sectors, including a reference architecture for high-performance computing. The move signals the UAE’s growing role in global AI infrastructure and G42’s continued international expansion, (Middle East AI News)
Funding
CPX acquires spiderSilk to boost AI-driven cyber defence
#UAE #acquisition - UAE-based CPX Holding has acquired AI-powered cybersecurity firm spiderSilk, expanding its threat intelligence capabilities. The deal strengthens G42’s global positioning, with CPX now eyeing expansion in North America, Saudi Arabia, and across the GCC. (Middle East AI News)
NEOM backs edge AI chips for smart city infrastructure
#Saudi #funding - NEOM Investment Fund (NIF) has partnered with US chipmaker MemryX to develop low-power Edge AI chips for real-time smart city operations. MemryX’s tech reduces energy use to under 10% of traditional GPUs and enable AI inference across video, industrial, and autonomous systems. (Middle East AI News)
R&D
Lucid and KAUST partner on EV and AV research
#Saudi #EVs - Lucid Group has signed a research partnership with KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology) to boost innovation in electric and autonomous vehicles. The collaboration will tap into KAUST’s supercomputing labs at King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC), furthering Saudi Arabia’s tech manufacturing and R&D goals. (Middle East AI News)
Digital transformation
Qatar unveils national data and statistics strategy
#Qatar #datastrategy - Qatar’s National Planning Council has launched a new data and statistics strategy covering 128 projects. Key features include a unified data system, 21 national initiatives, and the Qatar Data Trust Index to track public confidence in data quality and governance.(Middle East AI News)
Qatar Labour Ministry deploys AI agents for 2-min decisions
#Qatar #digitaltransformation – Qatar’s Ministry of Labour has launched a multi-agent AI platform with Microsoft that reduces application processing times from weeks to under two minutes. Built on the AutoGen framework, the system uses eight AI agents for faster, more transparent decision-making. (Middle East AI News)
Morocco doubles down on cybersecurity and AI readiness
#Morocco #cybersecurity - Morocco has launched a nationwide cybersecurity strategy, featuring upgraded intrusion prevention systems, regular testing, and staff training. The effort supports Morocco’s broader digital transformation and AI readiness, with new protocols in place to detect and respond to cyber threats more efficiently. (MSN)
Finance
DFM adds AI features to iVestor for smarter investing
#UAE #apps - Dubai Financial Market has launched AI-powered “Smart Disclosures” and “Financial Summary” features on its iVestor app, helping users digest complex reports quickly. With over 240,000 users, the app now supports direct trading, IPO access and simplified company insights. (Emirates News Agency)
Hajj
Makkah launches AI tools to enhance Hajj pilgrim experience
#Saudi #Hajj - The Presidency of Religious Affairs at the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque has unveiled AI-powered tools including the Manarah 2 robot, interactive screens, and multilingual Qur’an apps to enrich pilgrims’ Hajj experience. More than 1.8 million Muslims from around the world are expected to make the Hajj pilgrimage this year (Arab News)
[ This newsletter was AI edited & human edited ]