Ai in the Middle East .. What is the size of investments and the most prominent countries?

The Middle East is a witness to an unprecedented acceleration in the acceptance of artificial intelligence technologies, with large investments flowing to big data, machine learning and woolly computing. While governments and businesses are competing to build an advanced digital infrastructure, investment in artificial intelligence is no longer an extra luxury or option, but rather has become an inevitable necessity to ensure survival and competitiveness in the new global economy. In light of this accelerating wave, an important question arises: Who will lead the future of innovation in the region, and who will be left behind? A report issued by ‘PwC’ Company ‘PWC (PwC) indicates that the contribution of artificial intelligence in the Middle East economies will reach $ 320 billion by 2030. Which means that the countries of the region must realize the opportunity to take advantage of the new technological revolution. What is the need to invest countries in the region in artificial intelligence? Investment in artificial intelligence has become necessary for the region’s countries to improve its international competitor, support sustainable development efforts, and increase efficiency, especially in the context of countries – such as Saudi Arabia and UAE – to diversify their economies away from oil and attract foreign investment in light of the availability of favorable infrastructure. One of the largest investors in artificial intelligence in the region? Saudi Arabia: The kingdom is the owner of the largest investment in emerging technology in the region, including the announcement in March 2024 that it intends to establish an investment fund of approximately $ 40 billion with Andresen Horowitz, and a new project to invest in November 2024 to $ 100 billion. The Saudi -“Machines” business, launched in February 2024, is part of the Kingdom’s efforts to achieve the goals of Vision 2030 in the field of artificial intelligence. The company specializes in the manufacture of electronics and semi -conductors, and covers nine important sectors that include smart devices, smart buildings, smart health, advanced industries and electrical transformation. ‘Machines’ are aimed at creating more than 39,000 jobs, and to localize technology and manufacturing, contributing to the improvement of the infrastructure of artificial intelligence in the kingdom. Saudi crown prince, Mohammed Bin Salman, also announced today the launch of the ‘Humayen’ business owned by the Public Investment Fund for the purpose of developing and managing the solutions and techniques of artificial intelligence. The company seeks to provide major linguistic models in Arabic, develop modern data centers, and the infrastructure of cloud computing, focusing on accepting the acceptance of artificial intelligence technologies in various strategic sectors such as energy, health care, industry and financial services. This step falls within the strategy of the kingdom to improve its position as a global center for artificial intelligence technologies, and utilizes the geographical location, economic growth rates and the high percentage of the youth category interested in modern technologies. The UAE: The UAE was the first to appoint a minister of artificial intelligence in 2017. The UAE National Intelligence Strategy 2031 was launched, and its investments in the field include the company “G42”, supported by “Mubadala Investment”, which plans to expand dozens of billions of rands to expand its investments in the United States. State -owned MGX plans to invest about $ 7 billion in the “Stargit” project announced by President Donald Trump. Qatar also awarded $ 2.5 billion to reach the digital transformation program, while Morocco granted $ 1.1 billion to the strategy “Digital Morocco 2030”. Are all countries in the region invested so much? The investments of the countries of the region vary in the field of artificial intelligence, but the countries of the region are making efforts to catch up on emerging technology; For example, Egypt introduced the ‘National Charter of Artificial Intelligence’ in collaboration with ‘Microsoft’. While Tunisia and Algeria have announced national strategies for the field of artificial intelligence. How do countries of the region benefit from artificial intelligence? Artificial intelligence has used in many areas, and it is used by ‘Saudi Aramco’- for example- in the field of energy to improve the efficacy of refineries, to expect maintenance dates and reduce the emissions, and are used by the UAE business “M42” in the healthcare sector. It is also included in other sectors such as agriculture, livestock, education and the financial sector. Are the countries of the region challenges in this area? Of course, the most important of which is low investments compared to countries outside the region, dependence on external technologies, such as chips, lack of qualified cadres, major energy needs and the need to develop digital infrastructure. There are also privacy challenges. The ambitions of the region also clash with US restrictions imposed by former President Joe Biden to export chips to the region, for fear of the leak of technology to China in the light of the technological breed between the two countries. But the administration of President Donald Trump has hinted at the intention to increase these restrictions and increase control over slides abroad. Despite these challenges, some countries have managed to issue artificial intelligence models, such as the Emirati “Falcon”, “Jess” and Saudi Science “.