Saudi Esports Federation Welcomes Razer Back to Gamers8

Razer, the world’s leading lifestyle brand for gamers, will be the gaming gear partner at “Gamers8: The Land of Heroes”. (SPA)
Razer, the world’s leading lifestyle brand for gamers, will be the gaming gear partner at “Gamers8: The Land of Heroes”. (SPA)
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Saudi Esports Federation Welcomes Razer Back to Gamers8

Razer, the world’s leading lifestyle brand for gamers, will be the gaming gear partner at “Gamers8: The Land of Heroes”. (SPA)
Razer, the world’s leading lifestyle brand for gamers, will be the gaming gear partner at “Gamers8: The Land of Heroes”. (SPA)

The Saudi Esports Federation (SEF) announced on Tuesday that Razer, the world’s leading lifestyle brand for gamers, is to be the gaming gear partner at “Gamers8: The Land of Heroes”, the biggest gaming and esports festival worldwide.

This is the second consecutive year that SEF and Razer have collaborated for Gamers8, following the successful partnership last summer.

Organized by SEF, “Gamers8: The Land of Heroes” runs for eight weeks from July 6 and features elite esports tournaments at the purpose-built venue at Boulevard Riyadh City, as well as live concerts and numerous activities and attractions.

Razer will provide premium hardware from their range of gaming peripherals for VIPs and influencers during Gamers8, as well as having the products showcased during the esports competitions together with the company’s well-known logo on the official broadcast.

Just like last year, a unique Gamers8 x Razer collection will be sold exclusively on-site during the festival, with items from the company’s signature collection also available for purchase.

In addition, SEF and Razer will organize raffles for “Gamers8: The Land of Heroes” attendees, and fans on social media, to win some exclusive gaming gear.

Ahmed Albishri, Deputy CEO at the Saudi Esports Federation, said: “Good partnerships produce great things together, and we are delighted to welcome back Razer as gaming gear partner for another incredible eight-week spell of Gamers8 action.”

“‘Gamers8: The Land of Heroes’ is the destination for gamers this summer and we thank Razer for once again pledging their support to Saudi Arabia’s booming gaming and esports industry,” he added.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Gamers8 once again for this opportunity,” said Flo Gutierrez, Global Esports Director at Razer. "Razer is dedicated to enhancing the gaming experience for gamers worldwide and partnering with the Saudi Esports Foundation for Gamers8 is a demonstration of our commitment to supporting and celebrating the gaming community worldwide. We look forward to another amazing edition of Gamers8.”

“Gamers8: The Land of Heroes” has a prize pool of $45 million – triple that of Gamers8 last year. Full details of all the elite titles appearing at Gamers8 this summer will be released soon.

The festival concludes with the Next World Forum, a gaming and esports forum held at the Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh at Kingdom Center on August 30-31, that brings together sector leaders and experts from around the world.



Google, Volkswagen Partner on Smartphone AI Assistant

People walk next to a Google logo during a trade fair in Hannover Messe, in Hanover, Germany, April 22, 2024. (Reuters)
People walk next to a Google logo during a trade fair in Hannover Messe, in Hanover, Germany, April 22, 2024. (Reuters)
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Google, Volkswagen Partner on Smartphone AI Assistant

People walk next to a Google logo during a trade fair in Hannover Messe, in Hanover, Germany, April 22, 2024. (Reuters)
People walk next to a Google logo during a trade fair in Hannover Messe, in Hanover, Germany, April 22, 2024. (Reuters)

Alphabet’s Google is providing key capabilities for an artificial intelligence assistant for Volkswagen drivers in a smartphone app, part of Google's strategy to win business by offering tools to build enterprise AI applications.

Consumers can ask Volkswagen's in-app assistant questions like "How do I change a flat tire?" or point their phone cameras at vehicle dashboards to receive relevant information.

The AI assistant draws on Google's Gemini large language models, programs that can understand and generate predictive responses to human language, and cloud computing capacity. The VW tool was designed by adding data such as Volkswagen owner’s manuals and YouTube videos on vehicle maintenance to Gemini.

Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian told Reuters that the product required overcoming technical hurdles to multimodality, the ability to process different data types such as text, images and videos.

"The problem looks superficially simple, but it’s technically very complex," Kurian said. "Most people think what we built is a speech-to-text translation system that then looks up a manual. Absolutely not."

The AI assistant is free and available to about 120,000 owners of Volkswagen’s Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport models. It will roll out by early next year to other cars from model year 2020 and later.

Corporate adoption of generative AI could alter the lucrative cloud computing market, where Google places third in terms of market share behind Amazon and Microsoft . Most companies are still searching for applications that users will find practical.

Cloud computing is a growing business segment for Google, accounting for $33 billion of the firm's $307 billion in overall revenue in 2023.

AI solutions have driven billions in revenue this year, the company has said, though it declined to disclose more precise figures.

Volkswagen declined to give details about usage for its AI assistant so far.