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Saudi Arabia: KACST Signs 13 Partnership Agreements to Build Semiconductor System

KACST signed 13 local and international strategic partnerships to build the semiconductor system. SPA
KACST signed 13 local and international strategic partnerships to build the semiconductor system. SPA
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Saudi Arabia: KACST Signs 13 Partnership Agreements to Build Semiconductor System

KACST signed 13 local and international strategic partnerships to build the semiconductor system. SPA
KACST signed 13 local and international strategic partnerships to build the semiconductor system. SPA

King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) signed 13 local and international strategic partnerships to build the semiconductor system, establish centers of excellence to accelerate technical development in emerging technologies and future communications, and qualify national cadres, as part of the work of LEAP tech conference.

KACST's partnerships in the field of localization of the semiconductor industry included, Alat Company, one of the Public Investment Fund (PIF) companies, in which it built and supported the semiconductor system in the Kingdom, while its partnership with the Global Semiconductor Group (GSG) focused on designing electronic chips, building national talents and attracting global competencies and international companies in the field of electronic chip design to the Kingdom market.

In the field of future communications and open networks, KACST through its strategic partnership with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the Research, Development and Innovation Authority (RDIA), the Saudi Telecom Company (STC), and Saudi Aramco, established a national technical and industrial alliance in the fields of 5G and 6G communications technologies and Open RAN, to create an ecosystem to stimulate innovation and entrepreneurship in future communication technologies, ensuring the Kingdom’s global role as a major developer of 6G technologies.

KACST, in partnership with Aramco, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the RDIA, and the National Industrial Development and Logistics Program, launched the Saudi Accelerated Innovation Center to enhance quantum technologies and develop 5G and 6G communications networks.
KACST launched a strategic partnership with Animoca Brands to enhance the application of Web 3 system in the Kingdom, facilitate the arrangement of companies and institutions to enter the Web 3 system, and identify joint research and development projects in blockchain applications, games, artificial intelligence, and metaverse development.
To promote public health, KACST has concluded a strategic partnership with Ascend Solutions Ltd. to develop innovation in the field of digital health and disability research, promote virtual health care, and contribute to building innovative health technologies using AI and Internet of Things technologies.
To localize emerging technologies and build future cities, KACST signed a strategic partnership with Cisco Saudi Arabia Limited Company to establish the Virtual Digital Innovation Center (VDIC).
KACST also signed a strategic partnership with Elm Company, to enhance cooperation in the field of future cities' technologies and emerging technologies, in addition to its partnership with Tulip Technologies Company to enhance cooperation in research and development, and training in the field of robotics, AI, and automation.
To achieve the objectives of the Made in Saudi Program, KACST signed a strategic partnership with CiDi Auto (Hong Kong) Limited, to cooperate in research and development activities related to heavy trucks, future transportation technologies, and smart cities, and to explore the feasibility of supplying the Saudi market with these trucks, and work on research, design and manufacturing of vehicles in the Kingdom to join the international market.
Additionally, the partnership is designed to facilitate the testing and implementation of new technologies in KACST laboratories, establishing laboratories in common fields, and hosting technical companies that focus on research, development and innovation activities.
To boost innovation, KACST has established a partnership with the Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited to develop the infrastructure of science and technology parks in the Kingdom, facilitate the entry of companies from the Kingdom and Hong Kong into potential markets, help them succeed and adapt, and create opportunities for cooperation in digital service platforms and programs to enhance operating efficiency and provide services in science and technology fields.
Regarding developing the skills of national cadres; the Academy 32 at KACST signed a strategic partnership with Cisco Saudi Arabia Limited and Nortal, to transfer knowledge and qualify human cadres in the field of professional certificates in information technology.

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Technology

Meta Criticizes EU Antitrust Move Against WhatsApp Block on AI Rivals

(FILES) This illustration photograph taken on December 1, 2025, shows the logo of WhatsApp displayed on a smartphone's screen, in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany. (Photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP)
(FILES) This illustration photograph taken on December 1, 2025, shows the logo of WhatsApp displayed on a smartphone's screen, in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany. (Photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP)
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Meta Criticizes EU Antitrust Move Against WhatsApp Block on AI Rivals

(FILES) This illustration photograph taken on December 1, 2025, shows the logo of WhatsApp displayed on a smartphone's screen, in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany. (Photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP)
(FILES) This illustration photograph taken on December 1, 2025, shows the logo of WhatsApp displayed on a smartphone's screen, in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany. (Photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP)

Meta Platforms on Monday criticized EU regulators after they charged the US tech giant with breaching antitrust rules and threaten to halt its block on ⁠AI rivals on its messaging service WhatsApp.

"The facts are that there is no reason for ⁠the EU to intervene in the WhatsApp Business API. There are many AI options and people can use them from app stores, operating systems, devices, websites, and ⁠industry partnerships," a Meta spokesperson said in an email.

"The Commission's logic incorrectly assumes the WhatsApp Business API is a key distribution channel for these chatbots."

Technology

Chinese Robot Makers Ready for Lunar New Year Entertainment Spotlight

A folk performer breathes fire during a performance ahead of Lunar New Year celebrations in a village in Huai'an, in China's eastern Jiangsu Province on February 7, 2026. (AFP)
A folk performer breathes fire during a performance ahead of Lunar New Year celebrations in a village in Huai'an, in China's eastern Jiangsu Province on February 7, 2026. (AFP)
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Chinese Robot Makers Ready for Lunar New Year Entertainment Spotlight

A folk performer breathes fire during a performance ahead of Lunar New Year celebrations in a village in Huai'an, in China's eastern Jiangsu Province on February 7, 2026. (AFP)
A folk performer breathes fire during a performance ahead of Lunar New Year celebrations in a village in Huai'an, in China's eastern Jiangsu Province on February 7, 2026. (AFP)

In China, humanoid robots are serving as Lunar New Year entertainment, with their manufacturers pitching their song-and-dance skills to the general public as well as potential customers, investors and government officials.

On Sunday, Shanghai-based robotics start-up Agibot live-streamed an almost hour-long variety show featuring its robots dancing, performing acrobatics and magic, lip-syncing ballads and performing in comedy sketches. Other Agibot humanoid robots waved from an audience section.

An estimated 1.4 million people watched on the Chinese streaming platform Douyin. Agibot, which called the promotional stunt "the world's first robot-powered gala," did not have an immediate estimate for total viewership.

The ‌show ran a ‌week ahead of China's annual Spring Festival gala ‌to ⁠be aired ‌by state television, an event that has become an important - if unlikely - venue for Chinese robot makers to show off their success.

A squad of 16 full-size humanoids from Unitree joined human dancers in performing at China Central Television's 2025 gala, drawing stunned accolades from millions of viewers.

Less than three weeks later, Unitree's founder was invited to a high-profile symposium chaired by Chinese President Xi Jinping. The Hangzhou-based robotics ⁠firm has since been preparing for a potential initial public offering.

This year's CCTV gala will include ‌participation by four humanoid robot startups, Unitree, Galbot, Noetix ‍and MagicLab, the companies and broadcaster ‍have said.

Agibot's gala employed over 200 robots. It was streamed on social ‍media platforms RedNote, Sina Weibo, TikTok and its Chinese version Douyin. Chinese-language television networks HTTV and iCiTi TV also broadcast the performance.

"When robots begin to understand Lunar New Year and begin to have a sense of humor, the human-computer interaction may come faster than we think," Ma Hongyun, a photographer and writer with 4.8 million followers on Weibo, said in a post.

Agibot, which says ⁠its humanoid robots are designed for a range of applications, including in education, entertainment and factories, plans to launch an initial public offering in Hong Kong, Reuters has reported.

State-run Securities Times said Agibot had opted out of the CCTV gala in order to focus spending on research and development. The company did not respond to a request for comment.

The company demonstrated two of its robots to Xi during a visit in April last year.

US billionaire Elon Musk, who has pivoted automaker Tesla toward a focus on artificial intelligence and the Optimus humanoid robot, has said the only competitive threat he faces in robotics is from Chinese firms.

Technology

AI to Track Icebergs Adrift at Sea in Boon for Science

© Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP
© Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP
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AI to Track Icebergs Adrift at Sea in Boon for Science

© Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP
© Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP

British scientists said Thursday that a world-first AI tool to catalogue and track icebergs as they break apart into smaller chunks could fill a "major blind spot" in predicting climate change.

Icebergs release enormous volumes of freshwater when they melt on the open water, affecting global climate patterns and altering ocean currents and ecosystems, reported AFP.

But scientists have long struggled to keep track of these floating behemoths once they break into thousands of smaller chunks, their fate and impact on the climate largely lost to the seas.

To fill in the gap, the British Antarctic Survey has developed an AI system that automatically identifies and names individual icebergs at birth and tracks their sometimes decades-long journey to a watery grave.

Using satellite images, the tool captures the distinct shape of icebergs as they break off -- or calve -- from glaciers and ice sheets on land.

As they disintegrate over time, the machine performs a giant puzzle problem, linking the smaller "child" fragments back to the "parent" and creating detailed family trees never before possible at this scale.

It represents a huge improvement on existing methods, where scientists pore over satellite images to visually identify and track only the largest icebergs one by one.

The AI system, which was tested using satellite observations over Greenland, provides "vital new information" for scientists and improves predictions about the future climate, said the British Antarctic Survey.

Knowing where these giant slabs of freshwater were melting into the ocean was especially crucial with ice loss expected to increase in a warming world, it added.

"What's exciting is that this finally gives us the observations we've been missing," Ben Evans, a machine learning expert at the British Antarctic Survey, said in a statement.

"We've gone from tracking a few famous icebergs to building full family trees. For the first time, we can see where each fragment came from, where it goes and why that matters for the climate."

This use of AI could also be adapted to aid safe passage for navigators through treacherous polar regions littered by icebergs.

Iceberg calving is a natural process. But scientists say the rate at which they were being lost from Antarctica is increasing, probably because of human-induced climate change.