Saudi Arabia to be global player in clean energy transition, AI: Alat CEO
Saudi Arabia is investing $266 billion in energy infrastructure in the next six years to meet global clean energy transition needs. However, the grid capacity to support Artificial Intelligence every day is running vastly behind, posing a major hurdle for meeting global energy demands, the CEO of newly launched Alat company told Al Arabiya Business.
Alat, a company under the Public Investment Fund (PIF), works toward sustainable manufacturing solutions for its international partners by accessing clean energy resources in the Kingdom.
“Power requirements from AI is going to go up 200 plus times in the next five years. That tells you that more and more AI applications are going to be in use to serve us and AI will play a central role,” Amit Midha, Alat’s CEO told Al Arabiya Business.
According to Midha, clean energy infrastructure to power AI is crucial in the near future in order to “serve humanity that we expect.”
Midha said his company’s main focus is on the grid and to achieve a decentralized electricity production and enable smart electrification – “a multi-decade journey that will require accelerated investments.”
“Power is key to powering the AI of the future,” he said. Alat, which also partners with NEOM, is primarily engaged in industry and manufacturing, targeting global energy markets and serving international companies in Japan, China, US and Saudi Arabia, and in the wider MENA region. The company has allocated 375 billion riyals ($99.98 billion) to invest in nine business units focusing on sustainable technology manufacturing by 2030.
According to Midha, companies across the globe are looking to transition to clean energy and integrate AI into their operation to accelerate innovation – Alat aims to cater to this need by partnering with these companies and bring “world class” manufacturing to Saudi Arabia.
He said: “The Kingdom will play on the global stage in solving issues such as decarbonizing, and accelerating AI and innovation, making us a global player around manufacturing supply chain.”
Saudi Arabia’s government plans to create a fund of about $40 billion to invest in artificial intelligence, the New York Times reported on Tuesday, citing three people briefed on the plans.
Representatives of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) have discussed a potential partnership with US venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and other financiers in recent weeks, the newspaper reported.
Andreessen Horowitz and PIF governor Yasir AlRumayyan have discussed the possibility of the US firm setting up an office in Riyadh, according to the report. PIF officials also discussed what role Andreessen Horowitz could play and how such a fund would work, the newspaper said, adding the plans could still change.