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IF and Google Cloud announced a strategic partnership to create a new global Artificial Intelligence hub . The new AI hub will be based near Dammam , in Saudi Arabia ’ s Eastern Province .

The landmark partnership further establishes Saudi Arabia as a global hub and top AI destination for local and global enterprises and startups . This partnership aims to develop the Saudi workforce through AI programs for millions of students and professionals , supporting the national objective of growing the information and communication technology , ICT sector by 50 %.

Under the partnership , customers will be able to use Google Cloud ’ s technology to support growth across industries and increase capacity for the delivery of AI applications . Businesses and their end consumers can expect to benefit from better quality AI applications and data services , delivered faster locally .

The partnership , which is subject to obtaining regulatory approvals , will feature joint research on Arabic language models as well as Saudi-specific AI applications .

Enabled by Google Cloud ’ s years of investment and leadership in custom silicon , this high-performance , purposebuilt infrastructure will include the newest tensor processing unit , TPU and graphics processing unit , GPU accelerators as well as the Vertex AI platform – Google Cloud ’ s specialised development platform that enables customers to build Generative AI applications .

The partnership demonstrates the attractiveness of Saudi Arabia for major technology projects . Investors can benefit from the country ’ s strategic location at the intersection of three continents , its advanced infrastructure , its position in the rapidly growing markets of the Middle East , and the prospect of reliable and affordable renewable energy to supply the AI hub .

To advance Arabic-language models , PIF and Google Cloud will explore enhancing the Arabic-language capabilities of Gemini , Google ’ s Generative AI model family , by combining additional Arabic datasets with Google Cloud ’ s technology . Local businesses , researchers and developers will have the opportunity to connect these models to their systems so they can build sophisticated Arabic language AI agents and applications . Preliminary research commissioned by Google Cloud and conducted by Access Partnership , a global technology policy advisory firm , estimates the new AI hub could add a cumulative $ 71 billion in GDP to the Saudi economy over eight years . The increased economic activity from AI adoption

in Saudi Arabia is expected to support the creation of thousands of highly skilled direct and indirect jobs .

The new investments build on Google ’ s Cloud ’ s existing presence in Saudi Arabia , which includes the Dammam cloud region , which launched last year and is part of Google Cloud ’ s current global network of 40 regions .

HE Yasir Al-Rumayyan , Governor of PIF said , “ We are delighted to welcome this new Google Cloud AI hub to Saudi Arabia . Saudi Arabia is a prime location for global technology partners as PIF brings both sector expertise and a long-term approach to investment .”

Ruth Porat , President and Chief Investment Officer of Alphabet and Google said , “ As part of Saudi Arabia ’ s rich technology ecosystem , we aim to create highly-skilled jobs for Saudis and opportunities for global businesses to fuel growth through cloud adoption .” •

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