Google Cloud, Haboob Partner to Strengthen Saudi Arabia's Nationwide Cyber Defense

Haboob announced its partnership with Google Cloud to deliver Chronicle CyberShield to Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
Haboob announced its partnership with Google Cloud to deliver Chronicle CyberShield to Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
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Google Cloud, Haboob Partner to Strengthen Saudi Arabia's Nationwide Cyber Defense

Haboob announced its partnership with Google Cloud to deliver Chronicle CyberShield to Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
Haboob announced its partnership with Google Cloud to deliver Chronicle CyberShield to Saudi Arabia. (SPA)

Haboob, a leading cybersecurity service provider owned by the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming and Drones (SAFCSP), announced its partnership with Google Cloud to deliver Chronicle CyberShield to Saudi Arabia.

This marks the first time Chronicle CyberShield will be offered in a managed services model in the Kingdom, aiming to bolster cybersecurity services for public sector organizations, said Haboob in a statement on Tuesday.

The news was revealed at Black Hat MEA in Riyadh.

“Chronicle CyberShield is a comprehensive solution that provides technology, processes, capabilities and resources to deliver situational awareness of the cyber threat landscape. It is uniquely designed for government entities to share threat information, help accelerate investigations and initiate a united response against persistent and ever-evolving threats proactively and rapidly,” said the statement

Haboob and Google Cloud are addressing the rising demand for cloud services in the Kingdom in alignment with the Saudi Vision 2030 digital transformation goals.

Running on Google Cloud's infrastructure, Chronicle CyberShield is capable of ingesting large amounts of data and conducting analytics within seconds. This can be a crucial factor when protecting one of the top 20 global economies and dealing with diverse data sources across various organizations and industries.

Haboob is spearheading the nationwide implementation of this solution, including the launch of a modernized Government Security Operations Center in Saudi Arabia, with advanced threat intelligence capabilities, enabling proactive detection and response to threats and incidents.

As part of the partnership, Haboob will also have access to a range of services from cybersecurity leader Mandiant, part of Google Cloud, including incident response capabilities, compromise and cyber defense assessments, and red teaming, in order to help protect key customer assets.

CEO of Haboob Eng. Saleh Alhaqbani underlined their keenness to provide their services to a wide range of clients in government and private sectors, which reflects great confidence in their ability to meet their needs in the cybersecurity sector, said the statement.

He stressed the importance of managed security monitoring services, which are growing significantly due to the legislation and security controls of the National Cybersecurity Authority, as well as the great risks resulting from cyber threats and new and complex methods of Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) to bypass and penetrate technical systems.

Alhaqbani added that Haboob is delivering a managed security monitoring service in partnership with Google Cloud using Google Chronicle CyberShield, which is supported by artificial intelligence (AI) technologies that help it detect complex cyber threats. Haboob is seeking to contribute to creating a safe cyberspace and achieving its strategic goals that have been worked on to align with Saudi Vision 2030's strategic goals.



EU Warns Meta WhatsApp AI Fee Breaches Antitrust Rules, Orders Rollback

FILED - 27 May 2025, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Schwerin: The Facebook, Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp apps are shown on a smartphone display that reflects the logo of the AI application Meta AI. Photo: Jens Büttner/dpa
FILED - 27 May 2025, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Schwerin: The Facebook, Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp apps are shown on a smartphone display that reflects the logo of the AI application Meta AI. Photo: Jens Büttner/dpa
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EU Warns Meta WhatsApp AI Fee Breaches Antitrust Rules, Orders Rollback

FILED - 27 May 2025, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Schwerin: The Facebook, Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp apps are shown on a smartphone display that reflects the logo of the AI application Meta AI. Photo: Jens Büttner/dpa
FILED - 27 May 2025, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Schwerin: The Facebook, Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp apps are shown on a smartphone display that reflects the logo of the AI application Meta AI. Photo: Jens Büttner/dpa

The European Commission said on Wednesday it intended to order Meta Platforms to reinstate rival artificial intelligence assistants on its WhatsApp messaging service after the U.S. tech giant imposed an access fee. "The Commission notified Meta that the revised policy seems to have the same effect of excluding third-party AI assistants from WhatsApp and thus appears at first sight to be in breach of EU competition rules," the EU's executive arm said, Reuters reported.

Interim measures, which the Commission imposes when it has concerns of damage to competition, would remain in place until the end of the investigation, it said.

"To prevent serious and irreparable harm to competition, the Commission intends to order Meta to reinstate access for third-party AI assistants under the same conditions as before 15 October 2025," it added in a statement.

Meta previously informed the Commission in March that it would allow rival AI assistants on WhatsApp for one year, contingent on a fee, after initially planning to ban third-party AI chatbots from WhatsApp Business.

"The European Commission is proposing to use its regulatory powers to enable some of the largest companies in the world to use the paid-for WhatsApp Business product for free," a Meta spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

"This means that a small bakery in France paying to use the service to take croissant orders will be picking up the tab for OpenAI. Small European businesses shouldn't foot OpenAI's bill," the spokesperson added.

The Commission also said that its investigation had been expanded to Italy, where the Italian competition watchdog had opened its own probe last year.


OpenAI to Open First Permanent London Office in 2027

FILE PHOTO: OpenAI logo is seen in this illustration taken May 20, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: OpenAI logo is seen in this illustration taken May 20, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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OpenAI to Open First Permanent London Office in 2027

FILE PHOTO: OpenAI logo is seen in this illustration taken May 20, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: OpenAI logo is seen in this illustration taken May 20, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

OpenAI said on Monday it has secured its first permanent office in London, expanding capacity to meet growing demand in the UK and building on the ChatGPT maker's plans to make the city its largest research hub outside the United States.

Here are some details ⁠on the new ⁠London office:

The office is expected to open in 2027, with capacity for 544 team members, Microsoft-backed OpenAI said.

The ⁠space is located at Regent Quarter, spanning Jahn Court and the Brassworks Building in the King's Cross area.

OpenAI currently employs around 200 people in London across research, engineering, customer support, policy, and sales.

Last week, OpenAI said it was ⁠pausing ⁠its main data center project in Britain due to an unfavorable regulatory environment and high energy costs, a move that dealt a blow to the UK government's push to position the country as a global AI hub.


Canada's Cohere, Germany's Aleph Alpha Reportedly in Merger Talks

FILE PHOTO: AI (Artificial Intelligence) letters and robot hand are placed on computer motherboard in this illustration created on June 23, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: AI (Artificial Intelligence) letters and robot hand are placed on computer motherboard in this illustration created on June 23, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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Canada's Cohere, Germany's Aleph Alpha Reportedly in Merger Talks

FILE PHOTO: AI (Artificial Intelligence) letters and robot hand are placed on computer motherboard in this illustration created on June 23, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: AI (Artificial Intelligence) letters and robot hand are placed on computer motherboard in this illustration created on June 23, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Artificial intelligence companies Cohere of Canada and Aleph Alpha of Germany are in talks to merge and have Berlin's support for a potential deal, newspaper Handelsblatt reported late on Thursday.

Citing government and industry sources, the paper said the German government would be willing to become a key customer of a combined company, part of a push to provide digital public services.

"If leading AI companies from Canada and Germany were to join forces that would send a very strong signal," German Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger told the ⁠paper.

Germany and Canada ⁠were already collaborating closely in the field, he was also quoted as saying.

Aleph Alpha told Reuters that regular discussions over strategic partnerships were standard practice in the AI industry and that Aleph Alpha had its own independent strategy, declining to comment further.

Cohere said it meets "with companies and institutions ⁠across Germany and Europe and continually evaluates strategic opportunities that support our global growth."

It also pointed Reuters to its international expansion efforts as well as to the Canadian-German Sovereign Technology Alliance agreed this year, but would not comment further.

Germany's research and digital ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Handelsblatt said merger talks started early this year and had reached an advanced stage, with plans for the new entity to be headquartered in both countries.

Germany has been eager to catch ⁠up with ⁠dominant AI players the US and China in a global race to master a transformational technology and attract high-income jobs. India has also emerged as a contender.

Last month, Berlin unveiled plans to encourage investments to boost AI data processing capacity at least fourfold by 2030.

Microsoft, which is collaborating with Cohere, unveiled $23 billion in AI investments in December, with the bulk earmarked for India and parts for Canada.

That was after Alphabet's Google said it would spend $15 billion over five years on an AI data center in India.