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Global AI Summit Brings Together Experts, Decision-Makers in Riyadh

A Saudi woman tries out one of the new technologies at the Global AI Summit in 2022. (SPA)
A Saudi woman tries out one of the new technologies at the Global AI Summit in 2022. (SPA)
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Global AI Summit Brings Together Experts, Decision-Makers in Riyadh

A Saudi woman tries out one of the new technologies at the Global AI Summit in 2022. (SPA)
A Saudi woman tries out one of the new technologies at the Global AI Summit in 2022. (SPA)

The Global AI (GAIN) Summit will kick off in Riyadh on Tuesday under the patronage of Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince, Prime Minister and Chairman of the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA).

The summit, organized by SDAIA, will feature 456 speakers from 100 countries and is expected to draw 32,000 attendees. Experts said the event will focus on the regulation and ethics of AI, with hopes of advancing “responsible AI.”

Mark Minevich, an American expert the President of Going Global Ventures, member of board of directors of Intentional Data Centers Authority and Sr Fellow of US Council on Competitiveness, Strategic Advisor Mayfield Venture Capital, told Asharq Al-Awsat that GAIN will be a key event for launching AI-driven solutions and supporting economic and sustainable development.

Minevich, who has authored “Our Planet Powered by AI,” said the third edition of the summit is crucial as it will gather AI leaders to discuss important topics. He praised Saudi Arabia’s focus on “AI for Humanity” and its advancements in multi-modal AI, AI-supported healthcare, and smart city projects like NEOM.

At the summit, Minevich will stress the importance of AI governance, innovation, and strategic deployment. He noted that the event provides a global platform to explore how institutions can use AI responsibly while adhering to ethical and regulatory standards.

He also highlighted that Saudi Arabia’s efforts in AI, including its focus on AI talent and open-source tools, are positioning it as a leader in the field. These initiatives are expected to attract new investments and partnerships, contributing to the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 goals.

He noted that Saudi Arabia’s use of AI in energy and sustainability are making it a key hub for foreign investment. He expects the summit to boost efforts in economic diversification.

He also predicted that AI will create high-skill jobs and advance sectors like healthcare and finance. These initiatives, aligned with Vision 2030, will improve Saudi Arabia’s global competitiveness and drive innovation in AI industries.

Sheikh Abdullah Zaid Al-Meleihi, chairman of Al-Ramez International Group and CEO of its subsidiary, Saudi Excellence Co., told Asharq Al-Awsat that the GAIN Summit will set up a global platform to show Saudi Arabia’s commitment to using AI for economic diversification and tech leadership.

He viewed the summit as a major step in Saudi Arabia’s goal to lead in AI. The event will highlight the Kingdom’s progress in AI infrastructure, innovation, and its digital ecosystem aligned with Vision 2030.

Key topics will include AI integration in projects like NEOM, improvements in data infrastructure, and AI advancements in healthcare, energy, and urban development.

Al-Meleihi noted that a key challenge is meeting the demand for scalable infrastructure while ensuring energy efficiency. He expected the summit to create partnerships that drive innovation in various sectors and support Vision 2030 goals by promoting economic diversification and technological leadership.

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Draghi Urges Reform, Investment Drive to Revive Lagging EU

Italian former prime minister and economist Mario Draghi speaks during a press conference about the future of European competitiveness at the EU headquarters in Brussels on September 9, 2024. (Photo by Nicolas TUCAT / AFP)
Italian former prime minister and economist Mario Draghi speaks during a press conference about the future of European competitiveness at the EU headquarters in Brussels on September 9, 2024. (Photo by Nicolas TUCAT / AFP)
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Draghi Urges Reform, Investment Drive to Revive Lagging EU

Italian former prime minister and economist Mario Draghi speaks during a press conference about the future of European competitiveness at the EU headquarters in Brussels on September 9, 2024. (Photo by Nicolas TUCAT / AFP)
Italian former prime minister and economist Mario Draghi speaks during a press conference about the future of European competitiveness at the EU headquarters in Brussels on September 9, 2024. (Photo by Nicolas TUCAT / AFP)

The European Union needs far more coordinated industrial policy, more rapid decisions and massive investment if it wants to keep pace economically with rivals the United States and China, Mario Draghi said on Monday in a long awaited report.
The European Commission asked the former European Central Bank chief and Italian prime minister a year ago to write a report on how the EU should keep its greening and more digital economy competitive at a time of increased global friction.
"Europe is the most open economy in the world so when our partners don't play according to the rules, we are more vulnerable than others," Draghi told a news conference.
In the opening section of a report set to run to some 400 pages, Draghi said the bloc needed additional investment of 750-800 billion euros ($829-884 billion) per year, up to 5% of GDP - far higher even than the 1-2% in the Marshall Plan for rebuilding Europe after World War Two.
"Growth has been slowing down for a long time in Europe, but we've ignored (it)," Reuters quoted Draghi as saying.
"Now we cannot ignore it any longer. Now conditions have changed: World trade is slowing, China is actually slowing very much and is becoming much less open to us... we've lost our main supplier of cheap energy, Russia."
EU countries had already responded to the new realities, Draghi's report said, but it added that their effectiveness was limited by a lack of coordination.
Differing levels of subsidies between countries was disturbing the single market, fragmentation limited the scale required to compete on a global level, and the EU's decision-making process was complex and sluggish.
"It will require refocusing the work of the EU on the most pressing issues, ensuring efficient policy coordination behind common goals, and using existing governance procedures in a new way that allow member states who want to move faster to do so," the report said.
It suggested so-called qualified majority voting - where an absolute majority of member states need not be in favor - should be extended to more areas, and as a last resort that like-minded nations be allowed to go it alone on some projects.
While existing national or EU funding sources will cover some of the massive investment sums needed, Draghi said new sources of common funding - which countries led by Germany have in the past been reluctant to agree to - might be required.
"If the political and institutional conditions are met, these projects would also call for common funding," the report said, citing defense and energy grid investments as examples.
EU growth had been persistently slower than that of the United States in the past two decades and China was rapidly catching up. Much of the gap was down to lower productivity.
Draghi's report comes as doubts emerge over the economic model of Germany, once the EU's motor after Volkswagen weighs its first ever plant closures there.
Draghi said the EU was struggling to cope with higher energy prices after losing access to cheap Russian gas and could no longer rely on open foreign markets.
The former central banker said the bloc needed to boost innovation and bring down energy prices while continuing to decarbonize and both reduce its dependencies on others, notably China for essential minerals, and increase defense investment.