Global AI Summit 2024 continued to transform data and AI landscape on final day

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Sept. 13, 2024 /CNW/ -- The third edition of the Global AI Summit (GAIN) closed today, after a series high profile collaborations poised to drive AI innovation and growth.

Hosted by the Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA), GAIN has brought together AI experts and business leaders from across the globe. The final day kicked off with a session exploring the technical foundations of Explainable AI – systems helping humans to interpret the predictions made by machine learning models – featuring representatives from The Alan Turing Institute, Thales, and Cognizant Technology Solutions.

It also saw the next generation of AI talent celebrated on stage following this week's International AI Olympiad, in which students from 25 countries competed to solve problems using the latest technologies. The competition was launched as a platform to help the next generation of AI experts and enthusiasts keep pace with the rapid changes in AI technology and exchange ideas.

The final day also focused on AI and education, with dedicated sessions on personalized learning with generative AI, as well as a discussion on how we bridge the innovation gap between academia and industry.  

Several landmark Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) and partnerships were secured, including:

Microsoft: signed an MoU with SDAIA  to develop a joint Center of Excellence dedicated to accelerating innovation in the field of Generative AI, with a special focus on Arabic Large Language Models. The enhanced partnership will also see "ALLaM" – SDAIA's Arabic LLM - generally available on Microsoft Azure.

Dell: signed an MoU with SDAIA to develop talent in the Kingdom, which will include equipping citizens with practical experience and knowledge about AI concepts and applications.

Oracle: signed an MoU with SDAIA to raise citizens' awareness of AI and enhance skills to support the Saudi Arabian labor market. This will be achieved through several collaborative initiatives, including workshops and comprehensive training programs that provide professional certifications in data and AI.

IBM: and SDAIA have joined forces to host the watsonX platform and the "ALLaM" model – a specialized Arabic language model – on the government cloud "Deem." By combining IBM's expertise in AI with Deem's secure infrastructure, the collaboration provides a high-performance environment for government agencies to leverage AI technologies.

KloudSpot: signed an MoU with SDAIA to implement advanced cloud services that support AI and Internet of Things technologies. The partnership is expected to contribute significantly to Saudi Arabia's digital transformation goals.

Saudi Arabia Ministry of Tourism: also partnered with SDAIA to create an AI Center of Excellence dedicated to transforming the tourism sector.

Additionally, the summit saw the establishment of key partnerships with ST Engineering for smart city solutions.

The summit is due to return in Riyadh in 2026.

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SOURCE The Saudi Data & Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA)