Like no other country, Saudi Arabia is making the transition from global oil power to big player in the AI sector. Abroad, the development is still underestimated - yet Riyadh is about to become one of the leading AI centers worldwide. Women are expected to play a leading role in this process.
So ended the second Global AI Summit on Sept. 17, affirming the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's recognition of and investment in the growing importance of artificial intelligence (AI). The three-day global event was attended by prominent leaders and AI experts who discussed the opportunities and limitations of the technology. Hosted by the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA), the summit attracted more than 15,000 attendees and more than 200 speakers from over 90 countries.
"We are witnessing the exponential growth of AI and its potential benefits to society today and tomorrow," said H.E. Dr. Esam Alwagait, director of the National Information Center in Saudi Arabia, in his closing remarks: "Together, we can develop a breakthrough model that unlocks the value of data and AI, which will drive knowledge-based economies, solve challenges and provide a better future for generations."
Senior business leaders and academic experts spoke at the summit, including Amin Nasser, CEO of Aramco; Dr. Junaid Bajwa, Chief Medical Scientist at Microsoft Research; Sebastian Thrun, CEO of Kitty Hawk; and Dr. Jürgen Schmidhuber, Director of the AI Initiative at KAUST.
While the summit showcased the potential of AI, it also spurred immediate action. On the opening day, member states of the Organization for Digital Cooperation adopted and signed the Riyadh AI Action Declaration. They outlined their long-term vision for harnessing AI for people, communities, nations and the world as a whole. The next day, 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 take on roles in AI and machine learning. The program will train 25,000 women for free over five years, with the goal of increasing the percentage of women working in the field.
In total, more than 40 partnerships and memoranda of understanding were signed at the summit. These partnerships, as well as the conclusion of the summit, mark the Kingdom's steady progress toward its Vision 2030 goal.