What’s new: Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) is partnering with Google Cloud to establish an advanced AI hub near Dammam, in the Eastern Province. The strategic partnership aims to boost Saudi Arabia's digital economy, creating thousands of jobs and contributing an estimated $71 billion to the country's GDP over the next eight years.
Why it matters: This partnership is a significant push for AI adoption in Saudi Arabia. It also highlights Saudi Arabia's ambition to be a global AI hub, investing in research that advances Arabic-language AI models and industry-specific AI applications.
The details:
- The AI hub, backed by Google Cloud's technology, will focus on building AI capacity across sectors like healthcare, finance, and retail. It will also support local enterprises and startups, making Saudi Arabia a key player in the AI landscape.
- Part of the project will be enhancing Arabic-language AI, including work on Google's generative AI model family, Gemini, to cater specifically to the Arabic-speaking world.
- Google Cloud is bringing its state-of-the-art infrastructure, including advanced TPU and GPU accelerators, to power the new AI center.
Zoom out: The partnership comes at a time when Saudi Arabia is investing heavily in its technology sector to diversify its economy beyond oil. The AI hub is also expected to upskill thousands of Saudi professionals, aligning with the country’s Vision 2030 initiative to modernize its workforce and economy.
The bottom line: With Google Cloud’s expertise and Saudi Arabia's drive to become a tech powerhouse, this partnership aims to create a regional AI hub that could shape the future of technology in the Middle East and beyond.