Saudi Arabia is positioning itself to become a leading force in the realm of artificial intelligence (AI) by laying the groundwork for a staggering US$40 billion investment fund. The initiative, which aims to put the nation at the forefront of AI development, was recently highlighted in discussions with prospective collaborators, including the influential venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and other financial entities.
The nation’s sovereign wealth fund, overseen by Yasir Al-Rumayyan, is a key player in this ambitious move. Al-Rumayyan, who maintains a rapport with Ben Horowitz of Andreessen Horowitz, has expressed the nation’s determination and fiscal capabilities to realize their AI aspirations. With assets totaling around US$925 billion and a target of US$2 trillion by the end of the decade, the fund is well-resourced for such undertakings.
While the details are still being fine-tuned, plans to kickstart the funding drive are set for the latter half of 2024. The focus will be on nurturing AI ventures, large-scale data centers, and semiconductor manufacturers, as per reports.
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia’s commitment to launching a $40 billion Artificial Intelligence fund is a testament to its dedication to AI innovation and technological progress, signifying the kingdom’s aspiration to be a global AI powerhouse…
Over in the Middle East and North Africa, the AI market is poised for explosive growth, with projections indicating a value of US$8.4 billion in the next two years. This represents a dramatic increase from US$0.5 billion in 2020 and anticipates an aggressive compound annual growth rate of 47.8 percent. Corporate leaders in the region are recognizing the critical nature of AI for their businesses, with significant investments in the technology already underway.
Saudi Arabia is fostering AI development internally with the establishment of the Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (DAIA), which has partnered with NVIDIA Corp to inaugurate the Center of Excellence for Generative Artificial Intelligence. This facility aims to educate professionals in AI applications, covering areas like large language models and natural language processing.
Abdullah al-Ghamdi, head of Saudi Arabia’s DAIA, had previously declared a commitment to invest US$20 billion in AI by 2030, aiming to train a sizable portion of the workforce and create tens of thousands of jobs in the AI sector.
“In line with our 2030 targets, we are investing in the education of 40 percent of the data and AI-relevant workforce and are on track to have over 20,000 AI and data specialists by 2030,” al-Ghamdi stated.
“Additionally, the initiative is set to generate up to 40,000 direct and indirect job opportunities linked to data and AI technologies.”