Terra Drone to open in Saudi; MBZUAI to train region's execs

Middle East AI News weekly news digest...

Jan 26

Good morning!

Here’s your weekly Middle East AI News!

Two big drone stories this week, as Aramco’s venture capital arm invests in Terra Drone, paving the way for it to open a subsidiary in Saudi Arabia, while Abu Dhabi’s Edge Group invests in Israeli UTM developer High Lander. We can expect commercial and military UAVs sectors to continue to be very active this year.

Meanwhile, a new YouGov survey commissioned by comms agency duke+mir has found that 55% of UAE residents surveyed are worried about losing their jobs to artificial intelligence. There have been a number of surveys over the past few years, by various companies, which have shown high levels of positive sentiment from UAE residents about AI. Has something changed? The arrival of ChatGPT perhaps?

Lastly, congrats to Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence for extending the university's excellent 12 week Executive Program out to the GCC! Applications are now open to business and government leaders around the region (up until February 15).

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Thanks for reading!

/Carrington

Drones

Wa'ed Ventures invests $14m in Terra Drone

#Saudi #Japan #drones - Aramco's Wa'ed Ventures has invested $14 million in Japanese headquartered Terra Drone, a leading global provider of industrial drone services, which is forming a new subsidiary Terra Drone Arabia. (TechCrunch)

AI Opinion

Rise of AI creates job worries, UAE survey finds

#UAE #jobs - 55% of UAE residents are concerned about losing their jobs to AI, according to a new survey by communications consultancy duke+mir and research firm YouGov. The poll of 1,000 people also found that fears run deepest amongst younger age groups. 66% of respondents under 25 were worried about losing their jobs to AI. (The National)

Education

MBZUAI rolls out Executive Program to GCC

#UAE #leadership - Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) has extended the its Executive Program on AI out to the wider GCC. So far, UAE 120 business and government leaders have passed through the program. (MBZUAI)

NFTs

UAE NFT market to reach $4.7 billion USD by 2028

#UAE #NFTs - The UAE's NFT (non-fungible token) spend could increase from $982 million in 2022 to reach $4.7 million by 2028, according to a new report from ResearchAndMarkets. The report credits increasing participation in NFTs from entrepreneurs, businesses and celebrities. (Lara On The Block)

Space

Saudi announces space entrepreneurship alliance

#Saudi #spacetech - Saudi Arabia's Communications, Space & Technology Commission (CST) has announced the formation of a space entrepreneurship, in which KACST-based co-working space The Garage is the first member. (Arab News)

Retail

Quara Robotics opens first showroom in Riyadh

#Saudi #robotics - Quara Holding subsidiary Quara Robotics has opened its first robotics showroom in Riyadh. The company aims to help consumers learn about the use of robotic products. (Aleqtsad)

Defence

Turkey's Baykar to deliver drones to Kuwait in $370 million deal

#Kuwait #Turkey #UAVs - Turkey is set to deliver an undisclosed number of armed drones to Kuwait in a contract worth $370 million, Turkish defence firm Baykar disclosed last week. (Reuters)

EDGE invests $14 million in UTM provider High Lander

#UAE #drones - EDGE, Abu Dhabi's defence technology group, has announced a strategic investment in Israeli develoer High Lander, which is best known for its drone-agnostic unmanned traffic management system platform and its drone fleet management platform Mission Control. (Emirates News Agency)

100 Houthi-bound drone parts seized in Yemen

#Yemen #drones - Security agencies in Yemen seized a truck at a border checkpost on Monday, which was carrying some one hundred drone parts bound fort Iran-backed Houthi rebels. (Asharq Al Awsat English)