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Saudi Arabia Earns Top Marks in Global AI Index for National Strategy 

Established in 2019, SDAIA serves as the national authority for all matters related to data (including big data) and AI, providing a centralized hub for its organization, development, and implementation. 
Established in 2019, SDAIA serves as the national authority for all matters related to data (including big data) and AI, providing a centralized hub for its organization, development, and implementation. 
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Saudi Arabia Earns Top Marks in Global AI Index for National Strategy 

Established in 2019, SDAIA serves as the national authority for all matters related to data (including big data) and AI, providing a centralized hub for its organization, development, and implementation. 
Established in 2019, SDAIA serves as the national authority for all matters related to data (including big data) and AI, providing a centralized hub for its organization, development, and implementation. 

The Stanford University International AI Index for 2024 ranked Saudi Arabia among the leading nations globally for developing a national strategy on Artificial Intelligence (AI). This comprehensive resource, valuable for policymakers, researchers, and industry specialists, provides insights into the current state and future trajectory of AI, reported the Saudi Press Agency on Wednesday.

This recognition reflects the Kingdom's commitment to leveraging data and AI technologies. Under the guidance and support of Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, Crown Prince, Prime Minister, and Chairman of the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) board of directors, the Kingdom is harnessing these powerful and transformative technologies for the betterment of humanity, while promoting a global framework for international cooperation in the field of AI.

Saudi Arabia's strong positioning in the AI and data domain underscores the success of Vision 2030, a national transformation plan where AI plays a pivotal role. Approximately 70% of the goals of Vision 2030 are directly or indirectly tied to AI, propelling the Kingdom toward a leading position in global AI rankings.

Established in 2019, SDAIA serves as the national authority for all matters related to data (including big data) and AI, providing a centralized hub for its organization, development, and implementation.

The latest accomplishment builds on Saudi Arabia's previous achievements in the AI realm. In 2023, the Kingdom secured the top spot in the Government Strategy Index for Artificial Intelligence, in the global AI classification issued by Tortoise Intelligence, which evaluates over 60 countries. Stanford University International AI Index 2023 ranked Saudi Arabia second globally in public awareness about AI.

These global accolades align with SDAIA's tireless efforts to solidify Saudi Arabia's position as a global leader in data and AI. Its multifaceted approach includes capacity building, policy development, fostering investment and innovation, strengthening technical infrastructure, and promoting the adoption of AI solutions in priority areas aligned with national objectives.

SDAIA is dedicated to achieving a set of strategic goals, including continuous modernization of the national data and AI agenda, and ensuring its successful implementation at the national level. Its steadfast commitment paves the way for Saudi Arabia to become a frontrunner in the information, data, and AI-driven economies of the future.

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Technology

Nvidia-Backed Reflection Unveils First AI Model to Take on Chinese Open Models

An NVIDIA logo appears in this illustration taken August 25, 2025. (Reuters)
An NVIDIA logo appears in this illustration taken August 25, 2025. (Reuters)
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Nvidia-Backed Reflection Unveils First AI Model to Take on Chinese Open Models

An NVIDIA logo appears in this illustration taken August 25, 2025. (Reuters)
An NVIDIA logo appears in this illustration taken August 25, 2025. (Reuters)

Nvidia-backed Reflection ‌AI debuted its first open-weight model named Beam on Monday, as the startup aims to compete with lower-cost Chinese models such as DeepSeek and Kimi in coding and agentic tasks.

Reflection said Beam is competitive with Chinese AI startup Z.ai's GLM-5.2 and is closing in on Qwen3.8-Max on coding and agentic ‌tasks.

The startup ‌said ⁠that Beam contains ⁠501 billion total parameters, or variables that determine how an AI system processes information, but activates only 23 billion for each task to make the model faster and cheaper to ⁠run by using only part of ‌its network for ‌each task.

Comparatively, Z.ai's GLM-5.2 has ‌about 744 billion total parameters with 40 ‌billion active parameters.

The launch comes as US tech firms are trying to fend off competition from Chinese open-weight ‌models that are cheaper, more customizable and capable of generating code ⁠nearly ⁠as well as leading models from OpenAI and Anthropic.

Founded in 2024 by former DeepMind researchers Misha Laskin and Ioannis Antonoglou, Reflection develops tools that automate software development, a fast-growing use case for AI.

Earlier this year, Reflection signed a deal with SpaceX for additional computing capacity at the Elon Musk-led company's Colossus 2 data center.

Technology

Pinterest Taps Amazon Veteran James Dibbo as CFO

A display for image sharing and social media service Pinterest is seen at the Collision conference in Toronto, Ontario, Canada June 23, 2022. (Reuters)
A display for image sharing and social media service Pinterest is seen at the Collision conference in Toronto, Ontario, Canada June 23, 2022. (Reuters)
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Pinterest Taps Amazon Veteran James Dibbo as CFO

A display for image sharing and social media service Pinterest is seen at the Collision conference in Toronto, Ontario, Canada June 23, 2022. (Reuters)
A display for image sharing and social media service Pinterest is seen at the Collision conference in Toronto, Ontario, Canada June 23, 2022. (Reuters)

Pinterest ‌said on Monday it has appointed Amazon executive James Dibbo as its chief financial officer, effective October 26.

Dibbo, 56, who will succeed Julia Donnelly at Pinterest, has led finance for the e-commerce giant's Ads, Prime ‌Video and Amazon ‌MGM Studios businesses ‌among ⁠others.

Shares of Pinterest were down about 1% in extended trading.

"James has led complex global businesses at scale, helped build ⁠high-performing teams and ‌understands the ‌intersection of consumer experience, shopping, advertising ‌and technology," Pinterest CEO Bill ‌Ready said.

The company had said in August that Donnelly would depart on October ‌30.

Donnelly, who is leaving to pursue a ⁠new ⁠opportunity at a private, early-stage company, joined Pinterest in 2023.

The image-sharing platform had forecast slower third-quarter revenue growth as it navigates a highly competitive digital advertising market dominated by larger players such as Meta's Instagram and Facebook.

Technology

OpenAI's Altman Says AI Benefits Warrant Accepting Some Risks

FILE PHOTO: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman attends an event in Tokyo, Japan February 3, 2025. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman attends an event in Tokyo, Japan February 3, 2025. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo
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OpenAI's Altman Says AI Benefits Warrant Accepting Some Risks

FILE PHOTO: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman attends an event in Tokyo, Japan February 3, 2025. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman attends an event in Tokyo, Japan February 3, 2025. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo

OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman ‌said the benefits of artificial intelligence justify accepting some risks and argued the technology should remain broadly accessible to the public

"We believe that the world should accept some bad things happening for the benefits of this technology and people having the agency," Altman said in an interview with Politico's technology-focused newsletter Decoded.

Altman said there remained a fundamental difference in worldview between OpenAI and rival Anthropic on AI regulation, adding: "I think there's a lot of daylight."

"I disagree, but I understand the perspective of people who are like, 'This technology is going ‌to get so ‌powerful, and it's so dangerous, that a ‌single ⁠lab in San ⁠Francisco should have it and make sure nothing bad happens, and kind of figure out how to dole out the benefits,'" Altman said.

He called that "a completely unacceptable trade-off" that runs counter to the "lighter-touch regulatory stance" backed by OpenAI.

"I wouldn't take a trade of saying, 'We'll make sure there's no major hacks, there's no misuse of this ⁠technology, there's zero scams, there's zero all the other ‌bad things that will happen,'" Altman ‌said. "Because I think people will do tremendously — orders of magnitude more — good ‌stuff than bad stuff."

Altman's remarks come amid a growing debate ‌within the AI industry over the pace of development and the risks posed by increasingly capable systems.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei in September published an essay calling on the industry to slow down to "pace the frontier," a stance ‌that Altman publicly endorsed. Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon resigned in September, saying the people building AI believe ⁠it "could kill ⁠us all by the end of the decade.

Reuters reported in September that Anthropic warned that, despite AI's potential benefits, the technology can sometimes act in ways that run counter to its makers' intentions and penetrate other companies' systems. The company said advanced models could exhibit "self-preserving behaviors," including attempts to "resist shutdown,conceal or manipulate information," or generate outputs that could be interpreted as "coercive, deceptive, or manipulative."

However, US President Donald Trump has largely dismissed calls for new restrictions, arguing they would make it harder for American companies to compete with Chinese rivals. He has repeatedly said existing law enforcement agencies, including the Justice Department, provide sufficient safeguards and that no new rules are needed.