Dubai's World Government Summit to Focus on AI

Minister of Cabinet Affairs and Chairman of the World Government Summit Foundation Mohammad al-Gergawi during the press conference. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Minister of Cabinet Affairs and Chairman of the World Government Summit Foundation Mohammad al-Gergawi during the press conference. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Dubai's World Government Summit to Focus on AI

Minister of Cabinet Affairs and Chairman of the World Government Summit Foundation Mohammad al-Gergawi during the press conference. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Minister of Cabinet Affairs and Chairman of the World Government Summit Foundation Mohammad al-Gergawi during the press conference. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The World Government Summit, set to begin on Feb. 12 in Dubai, will focus on artificial intelligence (AI).

This year's edition will discuss six main topics and 15 forums discussing future trends and transformations. It will feature over 110 interactive dialogues.

Themed Shaping Future Governments, the Summit brings together thought leaders, experts, and decision-makers from around the world.

More than 4,000 participants from the public and private sectors will participate in 110 interactive sessions. They 200 speakers from 80 international, regional, and intergovernmental organizations, including the UN, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Arab League, and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Minister of Cabinet Affairs Mohammed al-Gergawi said the new World Government Summit 2024 session brings together heads of state and governments, ministers, and heads of international organizations.

Gergawi stated during a press conference on Tuesday that the World Government Summit also hosts global leaders from the private sector, including CEO of OpenAI Sam Altman, CEO of Airbus Guillaume Faury, founder and CEO of NVIDIA Jensen Huang, co-and founder of Schmidt Futures and former CEO of Google Eric Schmidt.

He stated that the World Government Summit and an elite group of partners will launch a series of 25 strategic reports focusing on the most important practices and trends in vital sectors.

Ministerial meetings

The Summit hosts 15 global forums focusing on developing strategies and plans in the most vital sectors.

It is being organized in partnership with several international organizations and global technological institutions, in addition to institutions concerned with innovating new solutions to human societies' challenges.

The World Government Summit 2024 will continue its various dialogues through the Artificial Intelligence Forum, the Future of Work Forum, the Emerging Economies Forum, the Geotechnology Governance Forum, the Sustainable Development Goals Forum, the Arab Meeting for Young Leaders, and the Time 100 gala.

The Summit also hosts discussions and dialogues to anticipate the formation of future governments. They include round table meetings that bring together leaders of countries, global officials, international organizations, thought leaders, and the private sector.

The meetings aim to strengthen international cooperation, identify innovative solutions to future challenges, anticipate the most prominent opportunities, and inspire successive generations.

Arab finance ministers will also hold a meeting at the Summit, labor ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries will hold consultative meetings, and the energy minister will discuss the future of hydrogen energy.

Six themes

The Summit will focus on six main themes, including enhancing the pace of growth and change for effective governments, artificial intelligence, and new future horizons, and the new vision for development and coming economies.

The themes will also address the future of education, and the aspirations of tomorrow's societies, sustainability, and new global transformations, urban expansion and priorities, and global health.

Enhancing the pace of growth and change for effective governments is gaining traction at a time when global governments have accelerated their transformative digital initiatives and their reliance on technology in various fields.

It contributed to developing a system of new opportunities and many challenges.

Future policies should contribute to addressing the digital divide and ensure no one is left behind in the face of accelerating global changes.

The theme of artificial intelligence and new future horizons will focus on regulating this technology, designing it ethically, and identifying emerging trends.



China’s Unitree Unveils ‘Superman’ Robot as Fervor Builds Ahead of Shanghai Debut

Children stand near Unitree's humanoid robots on display at a Unitree store in Beijing, China August 10, 2026. (Reuters)
Children stand near Unitree's humanoid robots on display at a Unitree store in Beijing, China August 10, 2026. (Reuters)
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China’s Unitree Unveils ‘Superman’ Robot as Fervor Builds Ahead of Shanghai Debut

Children stand near Unitree's humanoid robots on display at a Unitree store in Beijing, China August 10, 2026. (Reuters)
Children stand near Unitree's humanoid robots on display at a Unitree store in Beijing, China August 10, 2026. (Reuters)

China's Unitree unveiled a new high-speed robot it dubbed "Superman" on Monday, days before becoming the first general-purpose robotics company to list on mainland China's stock market.

Unitree, the world's biggest humanoid-robot maker by sales, will start trading in Shanghai on Wednesday after raising 6.1 billion yuan ($905 ‌million) in ‌an initial public offering last week.

The company, based ‌in ⁠the eastern Chinese ⁠tech hub of Hangzhou, said it developed the new robot in just over three months. It achieved a standing jump of 2 meters and reached a top speed of 12.66 meters per second.

The Shanghai debut coincides with the opening of the World Robot Conference in Beijing, adding to investor attention ⁠on a company whose humanoid robots have drawn ‌global notice for running, dancing and ‌performing martial arts.

The IPO was more than 8,000 times oversubscribed ‌by retail investors, a record for Shanghai's tech-focused STAR Market.

In ‌a social media post last week, Unitree said it had cumulatively produced and delivered about 18,000 bipedal humanoid robots across multiple models as of July.

DERIVATIVES MARKET POINTS TO STRONG DEBUT

Unitree said the robot ‌remained a work in progress and could be improved further in coming months.

Founder Wang Xingxing ⁠gained national ⁠prominence after securing a front-row seat at a summit hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping for leading technology entrepreneurs last year.

The startup is also backed by some of China's most influential technology companies including Tencent, Alibaba, and DeepSeek.

Ahead of Unitree's Shanghai listing, derivative trading in offshore markets has pointed to a strong debut.

Its shares may also benefit from a broader recovery in Chinese technology stocks following last month's selloff.

The STAR50 Index has rebounded about 15% from a three-month low hit in early August.


Nvidia to Invest $1.5 billion in SB Energy under OpenAI Data Center Deal

FILE PHOTO: Nvidia logo is seen in this illustration taken June 11, 2026. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Nvidia logo is seen in this illustration taken June 11, 2026. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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Nvidia to Invest $1.5 billion in SB Energy under OpenAI Data Center Deal

FILE PHOTO: Nvidia logo is seen in this illustration taken June 11, 2026. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Nvidia logo is seen in this illustration taken June 11, 2026. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Nvidia will invest $1.5 billion in SoftBank-backed SB Energy and secure up to 8 gigawatts of AI computing capacity at an Ohio campus being built by the data center developer for OpenAI.

The deal is the latest where Nvidia is financing the ecosystem consuming its chips, a strategy that has helped fuel demand but also drawn scrutiny over the circular flows of funds from the chipmaker to its biggest customers, Reuters reported.

Leading tech firms are increasingly tying together chips, power and data center development as they race to secure the infrastructure needed for increasingly power-hungry AI models.

Chip giant Nvidia has secured land and power at Ohio's PORTS-Pike Technology Campus for an AI data center that will use its graphics processors and networking gear, with an initial capacity of 4.25 GW.

SB Energy and SoftBank plan to build at least 10 GW of new power generation and invest $4.2 billion in Ohio grid infrastructure to support AI data centers.

Also backed by OpenAI, SB Energy develops large-scale power and data center infrastructure projects. Founded in 2019, the company is building several data center campuses to support rising demand tied to AI workloads.


German Regulator: Apple to Change App Data Consent Rules

FILE PHOTO: People walk past a booth showcasing Apple's suppliers during the China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE) in Beijing, China June 22, 2026. REUTERS/Florence Lo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: People walk past a booth showcasing Apple's suppliers during the China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE) in Beijing, China June 22, 2026. REUTERS/Florence Lo/File Photo
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German Regulator: Apple to Change App Data Consent Rules

FILE PHOTO: People walk past a booth showcasing Apple's suppliers during the China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE) in Beijing, China June 22, 2026. REUTERS/Florence Lo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: People walk past a booth showcasing Apple's suppliers during the China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE) in Beijing, China June 22, 2026. REUTERS/Florence Lo/File Photo

Apple will change rules governing how app developers can use personal data for targeted advertising on iPhones and iPads, Germany's competition authority said on Monday, closing a years-long investigation.

The Federal Cartel Office found that Apple's App Tracking Transparency framework gave its own apps more favorable consent prompts than those of third-party developers, potentially breaching competition rules.

Apple has four ⁠months to implement ⁠the changes after the decision is served. Commitments run for seven years and will be monitored by a trustee.

Under the commitments, consent pop-ups for third-party apps must be redesigned ⁠to remove discouraging language and symbols, and made visually and linguistically neutral.

Third-party app publishers will also gain more flexibility to combine Apple's required consent request with separate data-protection consent prompts.

According to Reuters, Apple said the changes would apply in almost all European Union countries and that it had adapted the text and design of the ⁠consent ⁠prompt at the authority's request.

Developers of third-party apps, including Facebook parent Meta Platforms, aim for accurate user data so that targeted adverts can be displayed on devices. These generate more revenue than broader campaigns.

France and Italy have already fined Apple €150 million and €98.6 million, respectively, over the ATT framework.