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SDAIA President: Establishing ICAIRE in Riyadh Is Significant Achievement for Kingdom's AI Leadership 

Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) President Dr. Abdullah bin Sharaf Al-Ghamdi speaks at the forum. (SPA)
Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) President Dr. Abdullah bin Sharaf Al-Ghamdi speaks at the forum. (SPA)
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SDAIA President: Establishing ICAIRE in Riyadh Is Significant Achievement for Kingdom's AI Leadership 

Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) President Dr. Abdullah bin Sharaf Al-Ghamdi speaks at the forum. (SPA)
Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) President Dr. Abdullah bin Sharaf Al-Ghamdi speaks at the forum. (SPA)

Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) President Dr. Abdullah bin Sharaf Al-Ghamdi emphasized on Monday that the cabinet's decision to establish the International Center for Artificial Intelligence Research and Ethics (ICAIRE) in Riyadh, and its classification as a UNESCO Category II International Center, mark significant achievements in line with SDAIA's vision.

Al-Ghamdi stated that such a vision positions Saudi Arabia as a global leader in ethical artificial intelligence (AI) by providing support for research and development in the field, enhancing awareness of AI ethics, and offering consultative support in AI policies and capacity building.

He made his remarks at a ministerial session, “Regional Approach to Advance Ethical Governance of Artificial Intelligence” during the Global Forum on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, organized by the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and Slovenia’s Ministry of Digital Transformation in Kranj.

The forum, held under the theme “Changing the Landscape of AI Governance,” is taking place from February 5 and 6 with the participation of several distinguished ministers of technology and AI from various countries.

“The Global Forum on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence reminds us of our shared responsibility in dealing with the complexities of AI. It also emphasizes the need for a collaborative spirit in shaping the future of artificial intelligence,” Al-Ghamdi said.

The ICAIRE center in the Kingdom has taken significant steps in regional collaboration and capacity building, hosting in the past two weeks two sessions on AI governance regarding UNESCO's methodology for ethical readiness for AI, he added.

These sessions were held in collaboration with UNESCO, the Arab League, and the General Secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Al-Ghamdi noted.

The sessions were aimed at aligning regional ethical practices for AI, fostering awareness, achieving dissemination, and unleashing the inherent value of AI while ensuring adherence to the correct standards, he continued.

He added that the Kingdom's central geographic and cultural location in the heart of the Arab and Islamic worlds "gives us a profound responsibility" because Muslims account for nearly a quarter of the world's population and a significant portion also speak Arabic.

"This necessitates our progress in AI to be comprehensive and culturally sensitive. Therefore, we pay special attention to the development of Arabic language technologies and large language models to ensure the region's presence in the framework of advancing AI," Al-Ghamdi said.

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US Defends Law Forcing Sale of TikTok App

This photograph taken in Mulhouse, eastern France on October 19, 2023, shows the logo of the social media video sharing app TikTok reflected in mirrors. (AFP)
This photograph taken in Mulhouse, eastern France on October 19, 2023, shows the logo of the social media video sharing app TikTok reflected in mirrors. (AFP)
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US Defends Law Forcing Sale of TikTok App

This photograph taken in Mulhouse, eastern France on October 19, 2023, shows the logo of the social media video sharing app TikTok reflected in mirrors. (AFP)
This photograph taken in Mulhouse, eastern France on October 19, 2023, shows the logo of the social media video sharing app TikTok reflected in mirrors. (AFP)

The Justice Department late Friday filed its response to TikTok's civil suit aimed at derailing a law that would force the app to be sold or face a US ban.

TikTok's suit in a Washington federal court argues that the law violates First Amendment rights of free speech.

The US response counters that the law addresses national security concerns, not speech, and that TikTok's Chinese parent company ByteDance is not able to claim First Amendment rights here.

The filing details concerns that ByteDance could, and would, comply with Chinese government demands for data about US users or yield to pressure to censor or promote content on the platform, senior justice department officials said in a briefing.

"The goal of this law is to ensure that young people, old people and everyone in between is able to use the platform in a safe manner," a senior justice department official said.

"And to use it in a way confident that their data is not ultimately going back to the Chinese government and what they're watching is not being directed by or censored by the Chinese government."

The response argues that the law's focus on foreign ownership of TikTok takes it out of the realm of the First Amendment.

US intelligence agencies are concerned that China can "weaponize" mobile apps, justice department officials said.

"It's clear that the Chinese government has for years been pursuing large, structured datasets of Americans through all sorts of manner, including malicious cyber activity; including efforts to buy that data from data brokers and others, and including efforts to build sophisticated AI models that can utilize that data," a senior justice department official said.

TikTok has said the demanded divestiture is "simply not possible" -- and not on the timeline required.

The bill signed by President Joe Biden early this year set a mid-January 2025 deadline for TikTok to find a non-Chinese buyer or face a US ban.

The White House can extend the deadline by 90 days.

"For the first time in history, Congress has enacted a law that subjects a single, named speech platform to a permanent, nationwide ban, and bars every American from participating in a unique online community with more than one billion people worldwide," said the suit by TikTok and ByteDance.

- TikTok shutdown? -

ByteDance has said it has no plans to sell TikTok, leaving the lawsuit, which will likely go to the US Supreme Court, as its only option to avoid a ban.

"There is no question: the Act will force a shutdown of TikTok by January 19, 2025," the lawsuit said, "silencing (those) who use the platform to communicate in ways that cannot be replicated elsewhere."

TikTok first found itself in the crosshairs of former president Donald Trump's administration, which tried unsuccessfully to ban it.

That effort got bogged down in the courts when a federal judge temporarily blocked Trump's attempt, saying the reasons for banning the app were likely overstated and that free speech rights were in jeopardy.

The new effort signed by Biden was designed to overcome the same legal headaches, and some experts believe the US Supreme Court could be open to allowing national security considerations to outweigh free speech protection.

"We view the statute as a game changer from the arguments that were in play back in 2020," a senior justice department official said.

There are serious doubts that any buyer could emerge to purchase TikTok even if ByteDance would agree to the request.

Big tech's usual suspects, such as Facebook parent Meta or YouTube's Google, will likely be barred from snapping up TikTok over antitrust concerns, and others could not afford one of the world's most successful apps used by about 170 million people in the United States alone.