Saudi Communications Minister Attends Inauguration of New Cloud Region of Google Cloud in Dammam

Minister of Communications and Information Technology Eng. Abdullah Al-Swaha attended the inauguration ceremony of Google Cloud's new cloud region in Dammam. SPA
Minister of Communications and Information Technology Eng. Abdullah Al-Swaha attended the inauguration ceremony of Google Cloud's new cloud region in Dammam. SPA
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Saudi Communications Minister Attends Inauguration of New Cloud Region of Google Cloud in Dammam

Minister of Communications and Information Technology Eng. Abdullah Al-Swaha attended the inauguration ceremony of Google Cloud's new cloud region in Dammam. SPA
Minister of Communications and Information Technology Eng. Abdullah Al-Swaha attended the inauguration ceremony of Google Cloud's new cloud region in Dammam. SPA

Saudi Minister of Communications and Information Technology Eng. Abdullah Al-Swaha has attended the inauguration ceremony of Google Cloud's new cloud region in Dammam to offer its services to public sector institutions, big companies, small and medium sized enterprises, and start-ups in the Kingdom and the Middle East.

Al-Swaha emphasized the significance of Google Cloud investing in the new region, highlighting that this investment marks a significant stride towards achieving the goals and aspirations of the Kingdom to emerge as a leading regional hub for advanced computing technologies.

He further stated that this investment will play a vital role in supporting promising digital business initiatives, hastening innovation in artificial intelligence applications, and diversifying models of businesses in both the public and private sectors.

Dammam's new cloud region is part of Google Cloud global network, consisting of 39 cloud region and 118 regions that provide cloud services to over 200 countries and regions around the world.

Institutions in the region will benefit from key controls that allow them to maintain the highest standards of safety and the availability of local data storage premises and compliance standards, including specific data storage requirements.



AI Cloud Provider SMC Plans Global Rollout

People attend a media tour of Sustainable Metal Cloud's Sustainable AI Factory in Singapore July 25, 2024. REUTERS/Caroline Chia/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
People attend a media tour of Sustainable Metal Cloud's Sustainable AI Factory in Singapore July 25, 2024. REUTERS/Caroline Chia/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
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AI Cloud Provider SMC Plans Global Rollout

People attend a media tour of Sustainable Metal Cloud's Sustainable AI Factory in Singapore July 25, 2024. REUTERS/Caroline Chia/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
People attend a media tour of Sustainable Metal Cloud's Sustainable AI Factory in Singapore July 25, 2024. REUTERS/Caroline Chia/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

Singapore-headquartered AI cloud provider Sustainable Metal Cloud (SMC) is planning to expand globally as its sees fast-growing demand for its energy saving technology, its CEO said on Thursday.

"Due to client demand, we’re looking to expand in EMEA (Europe Middle East and Africa) and North America," CEO and co-founder Tim Rosenfield said, Reuters reported.

The startup, a partner of AI chip giant Nvidia, already operates what it calls "sustainable AI factories" in Australia and Singapore and is set to launch in India and Thailand.

Its clients in Singapore, where it operates over 1,200 of Nvidia's high-end H100 AI chips, include Facebook owner Meta who uses SMC's cloud to run its Llama 2 AI model.

While most data centres depend on air cooling technology, SMC uses immersion technology, submerging servers from Dell fitted with GPUs (graphics processing units) from Nvidia in a synthetic oil called polyalphaolefin to draw heat away faster.

The technology behind the approach reduces energy consumption by up to 50% compared to traditional air cooling, according to the CEO.

Demand for AI is expected to increase 10-fold compared with 2023, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The electricity consumption of data centres globally is expected to top 1,000 terawatt-hours in 2026, roughly equivalent to Japan's total annual consumption, the IEA said in March.

SMC is currently raising $400 million in equity and $550 million in debt according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter.

The company declined to comment. The fundraising was first reported by Bloomberg.