Saudi Arabia signs MoUs with IBM, Alibaba and Huawei on AI

Vision 2030 has clear goals to transform KSA’s cities into smart ones by unlocking the value of data, says SDAIA chief

The Saudi Authority for Data and Artificial Intelligence (SDAIA) on Thursday signed memorandums of understanding (MoU) with IBM, Alibaba and Huawei in areas of artificial intelligence (AI) at a summit in Riyadh. SDAIA and Alibaba Cloud announced an MoU to partner in supporting Saudi Arabia’s path to develop smart cities through AI. “Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 has clear goals to transform (the Kingdom’s) cities into smart ones by unlocking the value of city data as a national asset to realize Vision 2030 aspirations,” said Abdullah bin Sharaf

Alghamdi, president of SDAIA. SDAIA and Huawei signed an MoU to recognize the Arabic language and its characters using AI technology and with the help of researchers from the Kingdom and Huawei. SDAIA is seeking IBM’s help in developing “real use cases” of AI in areas of health, energy and other sectors, as well as training through a strategic relationship, it said.

Mishari Almishari, deputy director of the National Information Center, told Arab News: “We need to have clear work procedures before we reach the phase of agreements that achieve the interests of the parties concerned. The development of AI research and innovation have really begun now.” Charles Yang, president of Huawei Middle East, said: “In cooperation with SDAIA, we look forward to creating new value across these tech domains, collaborating with local AI developer and industry partners to transform the Kingdom into a leading datadriven economy.”

Houlin Zhao, ITU secretarygeneral, said: “With only 10 years left to achieve the UN sustainable development goals, ITU looks forward to working with SDAIA to develop projects and initiatives that can accelerate the progress toward the SDGs and promote AI as a force for good for humanity and the planet.”

The Global AI Summit is an international showcase for Saudi Arabia to help achieve the objectives of Vision 2030, strengthen the nation’s role and spearhead global efforts in AI. Saudi Arabia wants to train 20,000 people over the next decade in the field of AI.