Ashraf AboAraf
The Kingdom stands on the threshold of a new phase of development with its excellence in the field of data and artificial intelligence and its pursuit of global leadership in it after it has written success stories in this advanced technical field, during which it has occupied the highest global indicators, enhancing its ability to lead the local and regional scenes in artificial intelligence to reach among the best economies in the world based on information, data and artificial intelligence, and to achieve its ambitions to become a global technical center for the latest advanced technologies and technologies related to artificial intelligence.
Artificial intelligence technologies are among the most important basic components that have contributed to the production of unprecedented technologies that have made countries rely on them to shape their present and build their future. Since its establishment in 2019, the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) has been leading the national file for artificial intelligence and data, including big data. It is the national reference in everything related to them, from organization, development and dealing, and enabling the productive and service development sectors in the Kingdom to achieve the goals of Saudi Vision 2030, which aims to build an economy based on knowledge and technology. The Global AI Summit, which SDAIA sought to organize in three editions, represented an important turning point in the development process that the Kingdom is experiencing as a global Saudi platform that overlooks the advanced world and keeps pace with its development movement, in addition to the fact that these summits are a contributing factor in transferring Saudi efforts to these technologies at the local level to international interest by working to combine international efforts and unify visions towards the concept of using these technologies and controlling their uses to become a building block for human societies, not a demolition tool for them, and contribute to improving the quality of human life and achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 2030. Since organizing the first edition in 2020, then the second in 2022, then the third in 2024, the Global AI Summit has become one of the most important summits awaited by specialists in artificial intelligence, thought and innovation leaders, heads of major technology companies, and economic policy makers in the world. It has even become the focus of observers around the world as they closely follow the latest developments in artificial intelligence and its relationship to building the future of humanity, which was reflected in the level of speakers and attendees who influenced These summits in their three versions, including the third edition of the summit, which had more than 456 speakers, attended by hundreds of experts, specialists and those interested in artificial intelligence from more than 100 countries.
The patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud – may God protect him – Crown Prince, Prime Minister, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority for the three global summits on artificial intelligence comes within the framework of His Highness’s interest – may God support him – in enhancing the Kingdom’s contribution to shaping a bright future for human societies by maximizing the benefit from artificial intelligence technologies and establishing an ethical framework that ensures the optimal use of these technologies on a large scale.
SDAIA has made great strides in advancing data and AI technologies. The first summit was held in 2020 in an exceptional year for AI, as His Highness the Crown Prince – may God protect him – said in his speech during the summit, saying: “2020 is an exceptional year for testing the capabilities of AI at a time when it is witnessing the formation of a new global situation that is redefining lifestyles, business and learning.” SDAIA devoted its efforts to the success of organizing this two-day summit through 30 sessions in which nearly 60 speakers from Their Excellencies the Ministers, thought leaders, and heads of technology companies in the world from 20 countries participated. The second edition of the Global AI Summit was distinguished by the qualitative presence of personalities and experts from different countries of the world, and the volume of agreements that exceeded 40 agreements that brought together a unique partnership between the public and private sectors towards investing in artificial intelligence technologies in developing the services provided by the authorities, in addition to announcing 10 local and international initiatives between global companies and institutions, and it was able to bring together more than 200 international, local and regional speakers in Riyadh, with an attendance of nearly 10,000 people from 100 countries.
The outcomes of this summit included the establishment of the “International Center for Research and Ethics in Artificial Intelligence”, which was approved by the Council of Ministers in 2023 to establish it in the city of Riyadh, and it enjoys a legal personality and financial and administrative independence. The General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization “UNESCO” approved in its forty-second session granting the center the status of an international center of the second category under the auspices of UNESCO, and UNESCO officially announced it at the third summit.
The third edition of the Global AI Summit complemented the great successes achieved by the first and second editions during 2020 and 2022, but it was distinguished by the breadth of its topics that covered the international interest in data and artificial intelligence in light of the rapid development of its technologies and their overall impact on the individual and institutional level. The summit addressed a number of topics of interest to the international community, including the role of governments in harnessing the capabilities of artificial intelligence technologies to drive economic growth in the world and achieve the public good of humanity while raising awareness of these pioneering technologies and their effects on the future of humanity, and how artificial intelligence is reshaping our lives. It also reviewed topics of interaction between humans and artificial intelligence and the impact of ethics, governance and artificial intelligence on the fields of education, culture and science. The summit witnessed more participation with 456 speakers and the attendance of an elite group of international figures from 100 countries during the period from September 10 to 12, 2024 AD at the King Abdulaziz International Conference Center in Riyadh, it received great interaction, both in terms of attendance and participants who flocked to Riyadh and exceeded 30,000 people over three days, joining more than 150 sessions and workshops, while 3.7 million joined virtually from around the world. It also witnessed the signing of more than 80 local and international agreements and memoranda of understanding, and 25 declarations and initiatives, all related to achieving the benefits of artificial intelligence technologies. An accompanying exhibition was also held, which included presentations by the world’s largest technology companies, and came out with a package of outputs that serve to achieve the best benefits from artificial intelligence at the global level and ensure the employment of its technologies to serve all of humanity. During it, a number of initiatives and agreements were announced between government agencies and the private sector and between these agencies and the world’s largest technology and artificial intelligence companies, so that these agreements would shine in front of the lights of television and photography cameras that covered this summit locally, regionally and internationally in light of its international importance. The third summit was distinguished by many outputs, including the holding of the first international Olympiad for artificial intelligence with the participation of 25 countries, the announcement of the best large language model in the Arabic language “Alam”, the announcement of the Kingdom’s partnership with the United Nations on the governance of artificial intelligence, the launch of the International Center for Research and Ethics of Artificial Intelligence in Riyadh under the auspices of UNESCO, and the partnership between the Kingdom and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on reliable artificial intelligence. During the summit, the Riyadh Charter for Artificial Intelligence in the Islamic World was launched, which is the first charter to enhance Islamic cooperation in this advanced field, in addition to signing memoranda of understanding with global companies with IBM to establish a center of excellence in artificial intelligence, and Microsoft to establish a center of excellence in generative artificial intelligence, and announcing the One Million Saudis Initiative in Artificial Intelligence. Media Section of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Cairo.
