The Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund PIF and Google Cloud Launch a Worldwide AI Hub

The Public Investment Fund PIF of Saudi Arabia and Google Cloud have announced a strategic agreement to establish a new global AI centre in the Kingdom’s Eastern Province, close to Dammam.

PIF and Google Cloud: Key Objectives and Goals

In keeping with the Kingdom’s strategic objectives of attaining 50% growth in the communications and information technology sector, signed on the sidelines of the Future Investment Initiative conference, the cooperation seeks to increase the employability of Saudi talent. Through digital skills and artificial intelligence programmes that benefit millions of students and workers.

As part of the agreement, customers will be able to use Google Cloud’s AI technology to boost industry growth and expand their ability to create AI models and apps.

Additionally, the initiative allows companies and their customers to take advantage of quicker, local, and higher-quality AI apps and data services.

The newest GPUs, Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) accelerators, and Vertex AI—Google Cloud’s specialised development platform that lets users create generative AI applications—will all be part of the purpose-built, high-performance infrastructure. Regulatory clearances are a prerequisite for the collaboration.

Moreover, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the Public Investment Fund, commented on the partnership. He noted it reflects the Fund’s role in fostering an AI-friendly environment by investing in technical and human capital and enhancing the skills of thousands of people using cutting-edge tools, all in support of the objectives of creating innovative and sustainable infrastructure.

Furthermore, he clarified that the Public Investment Fund will use its long-term investment and industry experience to support this cooperation, which emphasises the Kingdom’s status as a significant centre for international technological partners.

In response, Ruth Porat, President and Chief Investment Officer of Alphabet and Google, stated that this strategic alliance will hasten the adoption of local language AI solutions for businesses and startups in the Kingdom. The Middle East, Africa, and the rest of the world span several industries such as healthcare, business, and finance.

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The Strategic Importance of Technology Investments

By integrating more Arabic language data sets with Google Cloud technology, Google Cloud and the Public Investment Fund will endeavour to improve the Arabic language capabilities of the Gemini application, which is Google’s family of generative AI models.

Besides, to create sophisticated AI applications in Arabic, local businesses, academics, and developers will have the chance to integrate these models with their systems.

The new AI hub may boost the Kingdom’s GDP by more than SAR 265 billion (about $71 billion) over eight years, according to a preliminary study conducted by Google Cloud through technology policy consultant Access Partnership.

The Kingdom’s increasing economic activity, brought about by the use of AI, is anticipated to create thousands of direct and indirect high-skilled jobs.

Since the technology industry plays a major role in enabling several other economic sectors, such as entertainment, financial services, healthcare, transportation and logistics, utilities, and renewable energy, it is a priority investment area for the Saudi Public Investment Fund.

In addition, the Saudi Public Investment Fund has made many investments in the communications and technology sectors, including the Saudi Information Technology Company (SITE), which offers digital and cyber services and solutions through national competencies, and the Internet of Things Information Technology Company (iot Squared), which focuses on the Internet of Things.

The new investment expands Google Cloud’s existing presence in the Kingdom, including the Dammam Cloud Region, which was established last year as part of Google Cloud’s worldwide network of 40 regions.

A Superpower in AI

The New York Times said in April of this year that Saudi Arabia is investing enormous sums of money to try to become a powerhouse in artificial intelligence as the U.S. and China’s rivalry over technical dominance intensifies.

According to the newspaper, the kingdom, which is rich in oil, is spending billions of dollars on research into artificial intelligence and computer power.

The newspaper noted that Saudi Arabia is currently trying to become a friend to everyone in the technology industry since the Kingdom is investing enormous amounts of money to become a major participant in the artificial intelligence space.

The newspaper said that although Saudi Arabia has historically provided money for the technology sector, it is now refocusing its oil resources to develop a domestic technology sector, necessitating the establishment of foreign businesses in the country.

According to the New York Times, Saudi Arabia will be in the middle of a growing international battle between China, the United States, and other nations like France that have made strides in artificial intelligence if its ambitions are successful.

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Jeddah is essential to Saudi Arabia’s ambitions to become a leader in artificial intelligence, according to the newspaper’s article.

According to the report, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology is the Kingdom’s top research university, drawing in international AI leaders and offering the computer power to establish an AI research centre. Much like institutions like the California Institute of Technology.

In accordance with Saudi Vision 2030, Riyadh has created the SDAIA Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority and is formulating a plan to outperform developed nations in the domains of AI and data creation, potentially drawing in up to $20 billion in investments by 2030.

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