The Middle East stands at the forefront of transformative endeavours, from integrating artificial intelligence (AI) in corporate governance to emerging new trade initiatives. Here is a quick look at the news that stood out this week.
An AI-powered observer added to $238 bn International Holding
The $238 billion Abu Dhabi International Holding (IHC) adds an AI-powered observer to its board. This it said will help human board members make better decisions. Called Aiden Insight, the AI will take an observer’s seat on the board. International Holding is the largest firm in the UAE.
According to reports this observer will be able to process and instantly analyse decades of business data, market trends, global economic indicators, and financial information. Backed by G42 and Microsoft, this initiative pushes UAE’s focus into AI, where the region aiming to become a testing and regulating AI hub.
The AI’s role will include compliance monitoring and risk assessment, and it will attend IHC board meetings, as a non-voting observer.
Telsa’s boss Elon Musk has sued OpenAI’s chief Sam Altman along with a few others. Musk stated that they had abandoned the company’s original mission to develop artificial intelligence (AI), to benefit humankind and has now moved for profit.
According to the lawsuit filed by Musk, Altman and Greg Brockman, co-founder of OpenAI had originally approached Musk to make an open-source non-profit company. Musk has stated in a lawsuit that the ChatGPT maker’s focus on money has breached the contract. The suit added that the company had kept GPT-4, its most advanced AI model, a complete secret, according to a Reuters report.
Musk along with Altman and others had co-founded the company in 2015 and had stepped down from its board in 2018. Currently, OpenAI is planning to appoint several new board members this March. Today ChatGPT, has become one of the fastest-growing software applications in the world, and this was so within six months of its launch in November 2022.
UAE announces new Trade-Sustain-AI initiative at TradeTech
At the TradeTech Forum, the UAE has launched a new initiative, Trade-AI with the intention to combine the power of technology with global trade and sustainability. The forum is running in parallel with the World Trade Organisations’ 13th Ministerial Congress (MC13) in Abu Dhabi.
The initiative aims to leverage the power of artificial intelligence (AI) in the supply chains, to boost global trade and also combat climate change. Through the initiative the UAE has identified several ways where it can make immediate impact – reducing fuel consumption and carbon emissions by optimising shipping routes, improving logistics operations, developing climate-resilient trade infrastructure etc.
Qatar’s push to becoming an AI tech hub shines through at the Web Summit
ith over 1100 startups and over 81 countries in participation, the Web Summit, one of the biggest technology conferences opened in Doha Qatar earlier this week. Held for the first time in the Middle East, the Qatar Web Summit kicked off with the country’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani committing to invest over $1 billion in international and regional venture capital funds. Qatar aims to be a regional IT hub.
A ‘fund of funds’ the focus of the programme is to attract top international VC funds to Qatar and the GCC region. At the conference Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani emphasised that Qatar has had strong commitments towards technological advancement. Like most recent conferences that took place in the region, the Web Summit at Qatar too had a focus on artificial intelligence (AI).
There is a growing push by Qatar towards building the country as a hub for technology and AI. At the recent state visit to Paris, Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani has also pledged to invest over $10.9 billion in French technology startups and technology funds between 2024 and 2030.
OpenAI under SEC scrutiny to investigate if investors were misled
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is said to be scrutinising the internal communications of Sam Altman, CEO, OpenAI to investigate if the company’s investors were misled. The report by Wall Street journal stated, the AI firm is under scrutiny by the SEC.
Altman is working to secure approvals from the US government for his massive venture. The report highlighted that this effort can be a risk to antitrust and national security concerns that are arising in the US.
Open AI’s chief is said to have met with a few potential investors and partners in the Middle East, US, and Asia over the past few weeks. However, reportedly he has stated he needs approvals from Washington.
