Teams from 17 Countries in Riyadh for Final Stage of ‘ALLaM Challenge’ to Support Arabic

The challenge will provide competitors with opportunities for training and workshops led by AI experts and specialists in Arabic language fields. SPA
The challenge will provide competitors with opportunities for training and workshops led by AI experts and specialists in Arabic language fields. SPA
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Teams from 17 Countries in Riyadh for Final Stage of ‘ALLaM Challenge’ to Support Arabic

The challenge will provide competitors with opportunities for training and workshops led by AI experts and specialists in Arabic language fields. SPA
The challenge will provide competitors with opportunities for training and workshops led by AI experts and specialists in Arabic language fields. SPA

Teams from 17 countries began arriving at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, preparing for the final stage of the "ALLaM Challenge."
The competition will take place from Thursday, November 7, to Saturday, November 9 at the Crowne Plaza Riyadh, with over 600 male and female competitors representing 200 teams. The event will also feature more than 50 guides and 40 judges, with total prizes valued at SAR 1 million.
The ALLaM Challenge -- organized by the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) in collaboration with the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming, and Drones -- is part of SDAIA’s efforts to support the Kingdom's initiatives to serve the Arabic language regionally and globally.
The challenge aims to enhance the language's status and raise global awareness of it, in alignment with the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030, which emphasizes the importance of the Arabic language as a key element of Saudi national identity.
The ALLaM Challenge aims to develop AI models capable of writing and understanding Arabic poetry, accurately parsing sentences, and teaching children the Arabic language in an engaging way.
This initiative continues the Kingdom's efforts to serve the Arabic language, particularly in technical fields, by providing high-quality Arabic data and developing AI models that efficiently handle the language.
The international competition is held in partnership with IBM and the National Technology Development Program (NTDP).
Participants in the challenge aim to showcase their abilities and potential by developing and improving large language models (LLMs). The challenge will provide competitors with opportunities for training and workshops led by AI experts and specialists in Arabic language fields.
It will support the teams and evaluate their projects based on judging criteria that ensure the sustainability of the solutions and their transformation into real AI-driven projects that serve the Arabic language across various sectors and fields.



Saudi Culture Minister Meets with Scholarship Students in Manga Production Program in Japan

The Saudi Minister of Culture met with Saudi scholarship students in the Manga Production Foundations Program at his residence in Tokyo on Saturday. SPA
The Saudi Minister of Culture met with Saudi scholarship students in the Manga Production Foundations Program at his residence in Tokyo on Saturday. SPA
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Saudi Culture Minister Meets with Scholarship Students in Manga Production Program in Japan

The Saudi Minister of Culture met with Saudi scholarship students in the Manga Production Foundations Program at his residence in Tokyo on Saturday. SPA
The Saudi Minister of Culture met with Saudi scholarship students in the Manga Production Foundations Program at his residence in Tokyo on Saturday. SPA

Saudi Minister of Culture, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Literature, Publishing, and Translation Commission (LPTC) Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan, met with Saudi scholarship students in the Manga Production Foundations Program at his residence in Tokyo on Saturday.

This specialized training program, organized in collaboration between the commission and Manga Productions, a subsidiary of the Mohammed bin Salman Foundation (Misk), aims to nurture talented manga artists through professional training rooted in Japanese techniques, the birthplace of this art form.

During the meeting, Prince Badr emphasized the Saudi leadership's unwavering support for developing human capabilities across all fields, highlighting the importance of academic and professional training in cultural disciplines.

The meeting was attended by CEO of LPTC Dr. Mohammed Hasan Alwan, CEO of Manga Productions Essam Amanullah Bukhari, and students studying manga art at Kadokawa Contents Academy (KCA), one of Japan’s leading institutions for training and recruiting talent in manga creation.

The program includes virtual workshops, an intensive training course, and overseas training in Japan. It has also launched competitions blending manga with Saudi cultural themes, such as "Munjanha," which transforms Arabic proverbs into manga stories; "Manga Al-Qaseed," which adapts Arabic poems into manga; and "Manga Al-Ibil," which celebrates the cultural symbolism of camels in Saudi Arabia.

The program has benefited over 1,850 participants through virtual workshops, with 115 advancing to the intensive training phase, resulting in the creation of 115 manga stories. Among these, 21 students were sent to Japan for advanced training. The competitions garnered significant engagement, receiving 133 submissions for "Munjanha," over 70 for "Manga Al-Qaseed," and more than 50 for "Manga Al-Ibil."