Dubai's World Government Summit to Focus on AI

Minister of Cabinet Affairs and Chairman of the World Government Summit Foundation Mohammad al-Gergawi during the press conference. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Minister of Cabinet Affairs and Chairman of the World Government Summit Foundation Mohammad al-Gergawi during the press conference. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Dubai's World Government Summit to Focus on AI

Minister of Cabinet Affairs and Chairman of the World Government Summit Foundation Mohammad al-Gergawi during the press conference. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Minister of Cabinet Affairs and Chairman of the World Government Summit Foundation Mohammad al-Gergawi during the press conference. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The World Government Summit, set to begin on Feb. 12 in Dubai, will focus on artificial intelligence (AI).

This year's edition will discuss six main topics and 15 forums discussing future trends and transformations. It will feature over 110 interactive dialogues.

Themed Shaping Future Governments, the Summit brings together thought leaders, experts, and decision-makers from around the world.

More than 4,000 participants from the public and private sectors will participate in 110 interactive sessions. They 200 speakers from 80 international, regional, and intergovernmental organizations, including the UN, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Arab League, and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Minister of Cabinet Affairs Mohammed al-Gergawi said the new World Government Summit 2024 session brings together heads of state and governments, ministers, and heads of international organizations.

Gergawi stated during a press conference on Tuesday that the World Government Summit also hosts global leaders from the private sector, including CEO of OpenAI Sam Altman, CEO of Airbus Guillaume Faury, founder and CEO of NVIDIA Jensen Huang, co-and founder of Schmidt Futures and former CEO of Google Eric Schmidt.

He stated that the World Government Summit and an elite group of partners will launch a series of 25 strategic reports focusing on the most important practices and trends in vital sectors.

Ministerial meetings

The Summit hosts 15 global forums focusing on developing strategies and plans in the most vital sectors.

It is being organized in partnership with several international organizations and global technological institutions, in addition to institutions concerned with innovating new solutions to human societies' challenges.

The World Government Summit 2024 will continue its various dialogues through the Artificial Intelligence Forum, the Future of Work Forum, the Emerging Economies Forum, the Geotechnology Governance Forum, the Sustainable Development Goals Forum, the Arab Meeting for Young Leaders, and the Time 100 gala.

The Summit also hosts discussions and dialogues to anticipate the formation of future governments. They include round table meetings that bring together leaders of countries, global officials, international organizations, thought leaders, and the private sector.

The meetings aim to strengthen international cooperation, identify innovative solutions to future challenges, anticipate the most prominent opportunities, and inspire successive generations.

Arab finance ministers will also hold a meeting at the Summit, labor ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries will hold consultative meetings, and the energy minister will discuss the future of hydrogen energy.

Six themes

The Summit will focus on six main themes, including enhancing the pace of growth and change for effective governments, artificial intelligence, and new future horizons, and the new vision for development and coming economies.

The themes will also address the future of education, and the aspirations of tomorrow's societies, sustainability, and new global transformations, urban expansion and priorities, and global health.

Enhancing the pace of growth and change for effective governments is gaining traction at a time when global governments have accelerated their transformative digital initiatives and their reliance on technology in various fields.

It contributed to developing a system of new opportunities and many challenges.

Future policies should contribute to addressing the digital divide and ensure no one is left behind in the face of accelerating global changes.

The theme of artificial intelligence and new future horizons will focus on regulating this technology, designing it ethically, and identifying emerging trends.



After Years of Survival, China’s Huawei Returns to Revenue Peak 

Logo of Huawei is seen in front of the local offices of Huawei in Warsaw, Poland January 11, 2019. (Reuters)
Logo of Huawei is seen in front of the local offices of Huawei in Warsaw, Poland January 11, 2019. (Reuters)
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After Years of Survival, China’s Huawei Returns to Revenue Peak 

Logo of Huawei is seen in front of the local offices of Huawei in Warsaw, Poland January 11, 2019. (Reuters)
Logo of Huawei is seen in front of the local offices of Huawei in Warsaw, Poland January 11, 2019. (Reuters)

China's Huawei is expected to claim triumph over US sanctions at its upcoming annual results, bolstered by its software push, progress in chips and booming smart-driving technology business that has helped it move out of "survival mode".

The company is set to confirm that it took 860 billion yuan ($118 billion) in revenues last year, just shy of its 2020 peak of 891 billion yuan, before chip stockpiles dwindled and US restrictions cut consumer business revenues in half. Its chairman disclosed its 2024 revenue in February.

It will also report full-year profit. In October, it posted a 13.7% drop in nine-month net profit.

Huawei's executives have previously said Washington's moves pushed the company into "survival mode", driving it to explore new business lines that have largely involved creating products that can serve as alternatives to Western technology and partnering with local Chinese authorities and government-backed firms.

The company has in past months struck a more confident tone, with founder Ren Zhengfei telling Chinese President Xi Jinping in May that concerns China had about a lack of homegrown chips and operating systems had eased.

Huawei has not disclosed in detail its revenue drivers, but has said that its consumer business has returned to growth while its foray into autos has developed rapidly.

The company likely shipped over 45 million phones in 2024, up by 25% or more on a year earlier, though yield rates on chips remain a constraint, according to consultancy Isaiah Research.

"Huawei has already shown incredible resilience in the face of this national state-led effort, and this process has arguably forced Chinese firms across the IT stack to become more innovative and collaborative," said Paul Triolo, a partner at DGA-Albright Stonebridge Group.

"This is one of the legacies of Huawei's re-emergence as a technology powerhouse."

Huawei declined to comment.

In the wake of US sanctions, Huawei moved into exploring areas such as building 5G infrastructure for mines and supplying energy storage systems to data centers.

Cut off from Google's Android and Oracle, it built its own operating system HarmonyOS, which it says is running on over a billion devices, as well as an internal software management system it calls "MetaERP".

Banned from using US semiconductor technology, it has created its own advanced chips including ones that compete with top artificial intelligence chipmaker Nvidia's products.

The company has also become a prominent supplier of advanced autonomous driving technology, working with state-owned automakers to revive themselves as viable electric vehicle makers.

Huawei has worked with Dongfeng Motor-backed Seres to sell Aito-branded cars, with sales more than tripling last year.

Its best-selling models M7 and M9 are equipped with Huawei's advanced driver assistance systems and sold in Huawei's showrooms nationwide.

There are similar projects with Chery, BAIC, JAC Group and SAIC Group.

Going forward, the company has said it wants to integrate artificial intelligence into its industrial communications services and to build out its software systems on connected devices, according to state media.

Huawei has also signaled it intends to compete more aggressively in overseas markets for its smartphones, having launched its foldable Mate XT smartphone in Malaysia in February in a glitzy event.

Without full access to Android, it is unlikely to regain its former position in Western consumer markets, though its data infrastructure presence has grown in areas such as the Middle East, Triolo said.

"Huawei's international presence will be more of a patchwork affair, but in some areas, like an alternative AI stack, it could eventually dominate in key markets."