NAIROBI, Kenya- The third edition of the Global Artificial Intelligence (AI) Summit wrapped up in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with industry leaders and experts charting the future of AI while addressing its current challenges.
Hosted by the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA), the three-day event delved into topics like AI governance, the development of Arabic language models, and how AI is transforming research and education.
One of the summit’s key highlights was SDAIA’s announcement of the ALLaM Arabic language model, now available on Microsoft Azure.
Developed by the National Center for Artificial Intelligence, ALLaM is a 7-billion-parameter model that is poised to revolutionize AI services and innovations across Saudi Arabia and the broader Arabic-speaking world.
Experts predict that ALLaM will significantly enhance Arabic language processing capabilities in the next 12-24 months, driving new possibilities in AI applications for the region.
This move is part of Saudi Arabia’s broader push to position itself as a leader in AI, leveraging the latest technologies to advance its national goals.
As Esam AlWagait, director of SDAIA’s National Information Center, remarked during the summit’s closing ceremony, “Together, we’ve not only imagined the future of AI but made it real by addressing the challenges and identifying the enablers needed to truly unlock its potential.”
Another major announcement was the partnership between SDAIA and U.S.-based Nvidia to establish a high-performance data center featuring a massive 5,000-GPU platform.
Touted as the largest of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, this infrastructure will be critical for supporting advanced AI research and innovation.
It represents a significant leap forward in Saudi Arabia’s ambition to become a hub for AI development, offering unparalleled computational power for local and international projects.
The summit saw a flurry of agreements and initiatives, with a total of 76 announcements made.
Among them, the Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO) launched its Generative AI Center of Excellence. This initiative aims to shift DCO member states from being mere consumers of AI technology to producers, a move that could radically enhance the region’s tech ecosystem.
As DCO Secretary-General Deemah Al-Yahya noted, this effort will help transform the way countries in the region leverage generative AI, creating new opportunities for growth and collaboration.
The summit also featured the first-ever International AI Olympiad, where students from 25 countries competed in data analysis and problem-solving challenges.
This event underscored the global importance of nurturing the next generation of AI talent to tackle real-world issues.
As AI continues to evolve, events like the Global AI Summit are crucial in fostering collaboration, pushing innovation, and ensuring that advancements in AI benefit humanity as a whole.
