AI-TECH

SAUDI BUILDS EXPERTISE IN THE AGE OF AI

Google Cloud is building an artificial intelligence (AI) hub in Saudi Arabia to help the country develop deep expertise in the technology.

In October, Google Cloud and the Public Investment Fund (PIF) announced a strategic collaboration to establish a cutting-edge global AI centre near Dammam. The partnership builds on the kingdom’s growing reputation as a global destination for AI development, attracting both local and international enterprises and start-ups. It will also support Saudi Arabia’s ambitious goal of expanding its information and communication technology (ICT) sector by 50% through targeted AI programmes for millions of students and professionals.

The AI hub will leverage Google Cloud's advanced technology, enabling businesses across sectors to harness high-performance AI applications with local data services that are faster and more efficient. joint research initiatives will focus on Arabic-language AI models and region-specific applications, supported by Google’s specialised infrastructure, including the Vertex AI platform and custom-built hardware, such as tensor processing units (TPUs) and graphics processing units (GPUs).

The project, part of PIF’s strategy to bolster key sectors like healthcare, retail, and financial services, aims to create thousands of highly skilled jobs and promote sustainable development within Saudi Arabia’s technology sector.

Ruth porat, president and chief investment officer of Google's parent company Alphabet, underscored the partnership’s potential to drive AI adoption across industries in the Middle East, Africa, and beyond, creating a wealth of opportunities for local and international businesses.

ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTION

Research conducted by Access Partnership suggests that the new AI hub could contribute up to USD 71 billion to Saudi Arabia's GDP over the next eight years, and potentially generate thousands of jobs as AI adoption increases. This collaboration builds on Google Cloud's existing presence in the kingdom, including its cloud region in Dammam, which launched last year as part of Google’s global network expansion. 

The initiative reflects PIF’s broader strategy to enhance Saudi Arabia’s digital economy, following other key investments in technology, such as the Saudi Information Technology Company (SITE) and the IoT-focused “iot squared”, both of which support national digital and cyber services.

In 2020, the kingdom created the Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA) to set the national data and AI agenda, orchestrate implementation of data and AI agenda across government, and oversee agenda execution across its entities, including the National Information Center (NIC), the National Data Management office (NDMO), and the National Center for Artificial Intelligence (NCAI).

The entity has made progress on several fronts. The Estishraf platform at SDAIA stands as a shining example confirming the kingdom’s proactive approach to anticipating future urban challenges by harnessing advanced analytics and AI. The platform’s role is not limited to providing real-time insights to decision-makers, as it is also instrumental in reducing costs. To date, the platform has contributed to savings exceeding SAR 51 billion (USD 13.6 billin) in operational efficiencies, further improving the country’s ability to adapt and innovate in response to evolving urban needs.

The National Data Bank (NDB) is another major initiative that enhances data-driven decision making across the public and private sectors by integrating over 370 systems and 420 APIs. This contributed to improving the level of data sharing between government entities and building a data-based digital economy, which eventually enhanced the kingdom’s position in the global smart cities scene.

Meanwhile, the Smart Riyadh Operations Center (Smart ROC) uses AI to monitor urban infrastructure, manage traffic, and ensure safety.AI-based congestion solutions have contributed to reducing congestion by 36% during major events, making the city a model to be emulated in the field of urban resilience.

NEWTECH INVESTMENTS

These initiatives are part of a series of investments taking place in the kingdom to develop new technologies. At a recent Biban24 forum, organised by the Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority (Monsha'at) under the slogan Global Destination for Opportunities, companies signed 23 agreements and several projects were launched at an estimated worth of SAR 580 million.

Monsha'at, for example, entered into a co-operation agreement with the Saudi Cloud Computing Company (SCCC) to collaborate on developing cloud technical solutions for digital transformation and supporting educational activities for entrepreneurs. Additionally, it signed a partnership with Microsoft to provide cloud computing services through the Founder Hub platform to entrepreneurs.

Monsha'at also partnered with the video communications company Zoom to provide technological solutions and organise training sessions through the Mazaya platform. Another co-operation agreement was signed with Oracle to offer workshops on usinf Oracle technologies for business management, along with cloud solutions and artificial intelligence tools to support start-ups.