Saudi Arabia has kicked off an artificial intelligence-themed event as the oil-rich country accelerates adoption of AI, a movement that lures both Western and Chinese technology firms to take on the demand for cloud and data solutions.
The third Global AI Summit, known as the Gain Summit, started on Tuesday in the Saudi capital Riyadh, drawing over 400 speakers from over 100 countries, including Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon, according to the organiser Saudi Data & Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA), which was created in 2019 to drive data and AI adoption and governance.
The event’s venue is lined with booths of local and international sponsors such as US technology giants Google Cloud and Microsoft, as well as the cloud-computing units of Huawei Technologies, displaying their offerings to an audience crowded with white-robed locals.
Abdullah bin Sharaf Alghamdi, the president of SDAIA, listed a number of achievements of Saudi Arabia in applying AI during his speech and called upon the world to “create a future where tech and humanity can thrive in harmony”.
AI’s contribution to the Saudi economy will reach 12 per cent by 2030 with its AI market growing at an annual rate of 29 per cent, according to the SDAIA’s projection in a report published on Monday. In government, 39 per cent of state agencies have begun to use AI, with 81 per cent of users saying that artificial intelligence has “significantly enhanced their service delivery”.