STC Group, Microsoft Team Up for Corporate Digital Transformation Innovation across Saudi Arabia

A man passes the Saudi Telecom STC office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, February 6, 2018. (Reuters)
A man passes the Saudi Telecom STC office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, February 6, 2018. (Reuters)
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STC Group, Microsoft Team Up for Corporate Digital Transformation Innovation across Saudi Arabia

A man passes the Saudi Telecom STC office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, February 6, 2018. (Reuters)
A man passes the Saudi Telecom STC office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, February 6, 2018. (Reuters)

stc group, an engine of digital transformation, announced the expansion of its strategic partnership with Microsoft to further advance its digitalization and drive innovation across Saudi Arabia.

As part of the partnership, the organizations will jointly develop and deploy cutting-edge solutions that will transform and empower organizations across various industries, while enabling small businesses to grow and thrive in the digital economy, according to a press release by stc, SPA reported.

"Our strategic partnership with Microsoft marks a defining moment in the history of digital transformation for both stc group and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” said stc group CEO Olayan Alwetaid.

“This collaboration isn't just about technology; it's about promoting a future where Saudi Arabia is at the forefront of global innovation, setting the standard for what's possible in the digital age. Together with Microsoft, we will work to bring the latest technologies to Saudi Arabia and help businesses of all sizes to embrace digital transformation, advance economic diversification, and create a more vibrant and prosperous future for our country.”

The collaboration between the organizations, the release said, aims to enable stc’s subsidiaries to explore new markets, develop disruptive business models, and bring innovative products and services to market. By jointly developing and deploying the latest advanced technologies, the partnership aims to support high-quality, safe, and secure digital experiences for businesses across the Kingdom.

The alliance will also serve as an innovation powerhouse, powering the transformation of industries from the Kingdom to the world.

“We are excited about this next phase in our journey with stc. Our aim is to empower businesses of all sizes and industries with tailored digital solutions that enable them to innovate and solve their unique challenges to drive equitable business growth.” Said President Microsoft EMEA Ralph Haupter.



Huawei's AI Lab Denies that One of its Pangu Models Copied Alibaba's Qwen

FILE PHOTO: Huawei logo is seen during Munich Auto Show, IAA Mobility 2021 in Munich, Germany, September 8, 2021. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Huawei logo is seen during Munich Auto Show, IAA Mobility 2021 in Munich, Germany, September 8, 2021. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay/File Photo
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Huawei's AI Lab Denies that One of its Pangu Models Copied Alibaba's Qwen

FILE PHOTO: Huawei logo is seen during Munich Auto Show, IAA Mobility 2021 in Munich, Germany, September 8, 2021. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Huawei logo is seen during Munich Auto Show, IAA Mobility 2021 in Munich, Germany, September 8, 2021. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay/File Photo

Huawei's artificial intelligence research division has rejected claims that a version of its Pangu Pro large language model has copied elements from an Alibaba model, saying that it was independently developed and trained.

The division, called Noah Ark Lab, issued the statement on Saturday, a day after an entity called HonestAGI posted an English-language paper on code-sharing platform Github, saying Huawei's Pangu Pro Moe (Mixture of Experts) model showed "extraordinary correlation" with Alibaba's Qwen 2.5 14B.

This suggests that Huawei's model was derived through "upcycling" and was not trained from scratch, the paper said, prompting widespread discussion in AI circles online and in Chinese tech-focused media.

According to Reuters, the paper added that its findings indicated potential copyright violation, the fabrication of information in technical reports and false claims about Huawei's investment in training the model.

Noah Ark Lab said in its statement that the model was "not based on incremental training of other manufacturers' models" and that it had "made key innovations in architecture design and technical features." It is the first large-scale model built entirely on Huawei's Ascend chips, it added.

It also said that its development team had strictly adhered to open-source license requirements for any third-party code used, without elaborating which open-source models it took reference from.

Alibaba did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Reuters was unable to contact HonestAGI or learn who is behind the entity.

The release of Chinese startup DeepSeek's open-source model R1 in January this year shocked Silicon Valley with its low cost and sparked intense competition between China's tech giants to offer competitive products.

Qwen 2.5-14B was released in May 2024 and is one of Alibaba's small-sized Qwen 2.5 model family which can be deployed on PC and smartphones.

While Huawei entered the large language model arena early with its original Pangu release in 2021, it has since been perceived as lagging behind rivals. It open-sourced its Pangu Pro Moe models on Chinese developer platform GitCode in late June, seeking to boost the adoption of its AI tech by providing free access to developers.

While Qwen is more consumer-facing and has chatbot services like ChatGPT, Huawei's Pangu models tend to be more used in government as well as the finance and manufacturing sectors.