Wednesday 5 June 2024

Saudi launches semiconductor hub; Saudi AI talent grows 24%

Middle East AI News weekly digest...

Good morning!

Welcome to this week’s Middle East AI News!

Saudi Arabia announced more semiconductor plans this week, with the launch of a national hub and a national capability centre at the Future of Semiconductors Forum. Egypt launched a specialised AI startup accelerator programme.

Meanwhile, The Hashgraph Association has signed a series of deals to support venture building in Morocco in the areas of DeFi, deep tech and sustainable technology. The Swiss-based decentralised technology specialist also signed a deal with SEALSQ to bring DePIN to Saudi Arabia!

Scroll down for more news!

Another great Middle East AI News LIVE - THURSDAY DEEP DIVE on LinkedIn later today at 12 noon KSA | 1pm UAE time | 9am GMT.

I’ll be talking to Andrew Forson, Head of Ventures and Investments at The Hashgraph Association on its expansion plans for the Middle East and North Africa, and recent agreements signed in Morocco, Qatar and Saudi Arabia!

Click here to attend today’s THURSDAY DEEP DIVE!

Thanks for reading!

/Carrington

Infrastructure

Saudi announces National Semiconductor Hub

#Saudi #semiconductors - Saudi Arabia's Research, Development and Innovation Authority (RDIA) has announced a new National Semiconductor Hub, that will relocate or create 50 local semiconductor design companies by 2030. The hub will be backed by a SAR 1 billion ($266m) deep tech venture capital fund. The news was announced at the third Future of Semiconductors Forum in Riyadh. (LinkedIn, Arab News)

Startups

Egypt launches AI startup accelerator

#Egypt #startups - Egypt’s Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) has partnered with Techne Summit to create a AI startup accelerator programme for Egypt and the African continent. Called AI Accelerate, the programme will offer startups a comprehensive ecosystem of support. (Disrupt Africa)

THA signs three ecosystem deals in Morocco

#Morocco #startups - Swiss-based startup ecosystem The Hashgraph Association (THA)signed three partnership agreements during GITEX Africa last week. THA will foster the growth of blockchain technology with Morocco's Digital Development Agency (ADD); a partnership with INNOVX, the innovation engine of UM6P - Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, will focus on creating sustainable ventures; while a third partnership with UM6P Ventures will invest in deep tech ventures across Africa. (Middle East AI News)

LLMs

Oman to work with Open Innovation AI on national LLM

#Oman #LLMs - Abu Dhabi-based Open Innovation AI and Oman Data Park has signed a partnership to deploy the Open Innovation SaaS platform in Oman, launch an AI Academy to develop local talent and build a national LLM. (LinkedIn)

New project to create data sets in Darija Arabic dialect

#Morocco #Darija - A new data curation project called Hadretna has been launched to create comprehensive datasets for North African languages, in particular Darija, the Arabic dialect spoken in Morocco. The team aims to build the largest body of text in Darija, enabling the development of a large language model. (LinkedIn)

IoT

THA and SEALSQ bring DePin to Saudi Arabia

#Saudi #IoT - The Hashgraph Association and SEALSQ. are partnering to bring secure IoT and DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure network) to Saudi Arabia. DePIN integrates decentralised technologies, such as blockchain with IoT to create a more secure, transparent, and efficient infrastructure. (Business Insider)

Talent

Saudi grows AI talent in 24%

#Saudi #AItalent - New LinkedIn data shows that the Saudi workforce is rapidly adopting digital skills as the hiring of AI talent grows 24% in one year. According to LinkedIn, Saudi doubled the size of its AI talent pool between 2016 and 2023, rising 9 places in the site's global AI talent ranking. (Zawya)

Venture Capital

Prosperity7 invests in Chinese GenAI unicorn

#China #Saudi #funding - aramco's venture capital fund Prosperity7 Ventures, participated in a $400 million funding round of China’s $3 billion AI start-up Zhipu AI. The Saudi VC firm is a minority investor in the company, which is developing Generative AI technology to rival OpenAI and Google. (Benzinga)

AI Infrastructure

WWT and NXT Global to create UAE AI Integration Centre

#UAE #digitaltransformation - World Wide Technology (WWT) has signed an MoU with NXT Global, to build and deliver an AI Integration Centre. According to WWT, the new centre will support the UAE in becoming a virtual and physical exporter of plug-and-play cutting-edge AI infrastructure. (WWT)

Facial Recognition

Ego taxis drivers may soon use facial ID

#Saudi #facialID - Facial recognition system developer NtechLab, says that its facial ID may soon be put into use in taxis in Saudi Arabia. The Russian firm signed an agreement with Saudi taxi booking platform, Ego. The system will use video analytics to verify the taxi driver's identity. (TASS)

Education

Tunisia to introduce AI-powered academic library

#Tunisia #education - Tunisia has developed an AI-powered academic digital library, which will be available to the higher education sector when the academic year starts in September. Called ELM, the virtual library will be available to all higher education and scientific research institutions free of charge. (University World News)

Digital Government

Presight signs MoU with The Gambia

#TheGambia #UAE #digitalservices - Abu Dhabi-based big data analytics company Presight, has signed a comprehensive MoU with The Gambia’s Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, for digital government services, a national digital identity and cybersecurity. The agreement, signed during GITEX Africa, also includes the building of a national data centre. (Emirates News Agency)

Drones

First locally-made drone announced in Oman

#Oman #drones - Oman-based Star Droneshas launched the nation’s first locally-made drone, TARIQ. The company has approved pre-approval from the country's Civil Aviation Authority to manufacture the new drone. (Oman Observer)

AI for Good

New Emirati chair for AI for Good

#UAE #AIforGood - AI for Good, the leading United Nations platform dedicated to leveraging AI for positive global impact, has announced the appointment of Dr. Ebtesam Almazrouei as chairperson of AI for Good Impact Initiative, during the AI for Good Global Summit 2024 in Geneva. (Zawya)

Guidelines

MEPRA publishes AI guidelines

#UAE #commnuications - The Middle East Public Relations Association (MEPRA) has released recommended AI usage guidelines for the region's communications sector. The association used ChatGPT to inform its recommendations. (Zawya)