SDAIA, KAUST to Organize World AI Youth Competition in Jeddah

The Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA) logo
The Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA) logo
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SDAIA, KAUST to Organize World AI Youth Competition in Jeddah

The Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA) logo
The Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA) logo

The Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA) and the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) will organize the World Artificial Intelligence Competition for Youth (WAICY) in Thuwal, Jeddah, on December 2-3.

The competition will be held simultaneously in 39 countries, with the participation of over 18,000 students from public schools, including the Kingdom.

The competition is taking place for the second consecutive year, featuring over 6,000 project submissions from participating students for remote and in-person discussions.

WAICY is one of the largest international competitions focusing on artificial intelligence (AI), generating interest from countries around the world. SDAIA has taken the lead in adopting this competition to equip the future generation with the skills to learn and apply AI technology for solving real-world problems.

The competition will be conducted through an integrated approach, where students will present their projects online, accompanied by explanatory videos. Selected projects will be assigned specific times and dates for presentation during the competition. The competition encompasses three tracks: AI Showcase, AI Generated Art, and AI LLM.

This competition contributes to achieving the highest levels of human development in the Kingdom by fostering human capital and sustainably enhancing the capabilities of both male and female youth in the field of modern technology.

Furthermore, the competition will prepare the youth in Saudi Arabia for success in advanced technological fields, positioning the Kingdom as a global hub for cutting-edge technologies and AI-related advancements.



OpenAI Enters Google-Dominated Search Market with SearchGPT 

OpenAI logo is seen in this illustration taken May 20, 2024. (Reuters)
OpenAI logo is seen in this illustration taken May 20, 2024. (Reuters)
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OpenAI Enters Google-Dominated Search Market with SearchGPT 

OpenAI logo is seen in this illustration taken May 20, 2024. (Reuters)
OpenAI logo is seen in this illustration taken May 20, 2024. (Reuters)

OpenAI is venturing into a territory long dominated by Google with the selective launch of SearchGPT, an artificial intelligence-powered search engine with real-time access to information from the internet.

The move, announced on Thursday, also places the AI giant in competition with its largest backer Microsoft's Bing search and emerging services such as Perplexity — a search-focused AI chatbot firm backed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and semiconductor giant Nvidia.

Shares of Google's parent company Alphabet ended 3% lower on Thursday after OpenAI's announcement.

OpenAI said it has opened sign-ups for the new tool, which is currently in the prototype stage and is being tested with a small group of users and publishers. The company plans to integrate the best features from the search tool into ChatGPT in the future.

"AI-powered search tools from OpenAI and Perplexity re-affirm search as a content engagement model but pressure Google to be better at its own game," Canaccord Genuity analyst Kingsley Crane said.

Google dominates the search engine market with a 91.1% share as of June, according to web analytics firm Statcounter.

SearchGPT will provide summarized search results with source links in response to user queries, OpenAI said in a blog post. Users will also be able to ask follow-up questions and receive contextual responses.

The company will give publishers access to tools for managing how their content appears in SearchGPT results. News Corp and The Atlantic are publishing partners for SearchGPT.

SearchGPT signals a closer collaboration between publishers and OpenAI, following content licensing agreements with major organizations like Associated Press, News Corp and Axel Springer.

"Newer AI-powered search providers could face challenges of their own, with Perplexity already facing pending legal action from publishers like Wired and Forbes, and Condé Nast," said Crane.

Major search engines have been trying to integrate AI into search since ChatGPT first launched in November 2022. Microsoft, through its early investment, adopted OpenAI technology for its Bing search engine, while Google rolled out AI-powered summaries for the wider public at its developer conference in May.

Google did not respond to a Reuters query on the potential impact of SearchGPT on its business.

Reuters had earlier reported on OpenAI's plans around AI search in May.