Sponsor News
Johnson Controls
KEO and Johnson Controls collaborate to spearhead decarbonisation in the region
KEO, a leading provider of multi-disciplinary consultancy services, and Johnson Controls, the global leader in smart, healthy, and sustainable buildings, have announced a strategic collaboration aimed at delivering turnkey decarbonisation services in the region. Under the collaboration, the two companies will offer an end-to-end decarbonization action plan and a suite of engineered solutions to drive cost and carbon reductions. These will help organizations achieve their net zero goals including comprehensive target setting, providing a roadmap, to produce tangible outcomes…Read more
Industry News
UAE
UAE joins AI safety pledge
At the recent AI Seoul Summit hosted by the UK and South Korea, two UAE AI companies committed to the safe development of the technology via a new AI safety pledge. Joining tech giants such as Amazon, Google, and Microsoft, this pledge requires companies to publish safety frameworks on how they measure the risks of their AI models and steps taken to mitigate future issues. Abu Dhabi’s AI company G42 commented that ‘committing to rigorous safety frameworks and transparent governance, not only safeguards technological advancements but also paves the way for a future where AI benefits all of humanity’ (G42 Group CTO, Kiril Evtimov)…Read more
Core42 to build AI supercomputer in Texas
The G42 subsidiary, Core42, has announced the building of an AI supercomputer in Texas using Cerebras WSE-3-chips. This feat of innovative technology equipment is capable of achieving 125 petaflops of peak AI performance and contains over 900,000 cores. The CG-3 is the second Cerebras system utilised by Core42, with their first being the developer of the bilingual Arabic and English language model called Jais…Read more
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom Holding invests in Elon Musk’s $24Bn xAI startup
Elon Musk’s AI startup, xAI, has secured $6Bn in a series B funding round, and Saudi Arabia’s Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal and Kingdom Holding Company are amongst the investors. xAI, primarily focused on developing advanced AI systems, is currently valued at $24Bn, and will be using this round of funding to assist the commercial launch of its products, via accelerated research and the building of advanced infrastructure…Read more
Lenovo issues $2Bn bonds to repay Saudi Alat debt
Chinese company Lenovo Group has issued $2Bn in convertible bonds to Alat, a Public Investment Fund (PIF)-backed technology manufacturing company. Under this agreement with Alat, Lenovo will establish a regional headquarters in the Middle East and a manufacturing facility in the Kingdom to increase its geographic diversification. This partnership is a stepping stone in achieving Saudi’s goals of becoming a global centre of electronics and advanced industries; facilitating the deepening of economic cooperation between China and the Middle East…Read more
Oman
QNB and Ooredoo Fintech extend their partnership
The largest financial institution in MENA, QNB Group, has partnered with Ooredoo Fintech; hoping to revolutionise fintech services in Oman. This collaboration is a landmark in the Sultanate’s digital transformation journey, as both entities join forces to offer innovative solutions through Ooredoo’s wallet platform…Read more
Oman’s digital economy could contribute 10% to GDP by 2040
Oman’s National Program for Digital Economy has announced aims to raise the Sultanate’s digital economy’s contribution to the GDP to 10% by 2040. Volume of investments in the communications and information technology industries, since Oman launched the National program for Digital Economy, has reached a surplus of $2.5Mn; with this number undoubtedly rising, it seems only likely that Oman will reach this goal…Read more