Riyadh: The second Global AI summit held in the capital drew to a close on Friday, affirming Saudi Arabia’s investment in Artificial Intelligence (AI).
The three-day summit was conducted by the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA). A large number of AI experts from across the world gathered during the same. Opportunities related to and the challenges posed by AI were discussed during the summit, which attracted approximately 15,000 people.
Over 200 speakers from 90 countries participated in the summit. Speaking of the event, the director of Saudi’s National Information Centre Esam Alwagait said “We are witnessing the exponential growth of AI and its potential benefits for society today and tomorrow.”
“Together, we can build a pioneering model that unlocks the value of data and AI that will propel knowledge-based economies, solve challenges and provide a brighter future for generations,” he further said.
On opening day, member states of the Digital Cooperation Organisation finalized and signed the Riyadh AI Call for Action Declaration, outlining their long-term vision for harnessing AI to benefit people, communities, nations, and the world as a whole.
On Thursday, Saudi Arabia announced it would join the World Bank’s Digital Development Partnership, which helps bring AI technologies to developing countries.
The summit concluded with the launch of a new joint initiative between SDAIA and Google Cloud aimed at empowering women to occupy roles in AI and machine learning. The program will provide free training to 25,000 women over the course of five years with the goal of increasing the proportion of women working in the field.
In total, more than 40 agreements and memorandum of understanding were signed at the Summit. These partnerships, together with the conclusion of the Summit, mark the Kingdom’s steady progress.
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