SDAIA, NVIDIA Presidents Discuss Computing Power Infrastructure in Saudi Arabia

President of the Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA)met on Sunday with Founder, President and CEO of NVIDIA in Riyadh - SPA
President of the Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA)met on Sunday with Founder, President and CEO of NVIDIA in Riyadh - SPA
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SDAIA, NVIDIA Presidents Discuss Computing Power Infrastructure in Saudi Arabia

President of the Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA)met on Sunday with Founder, President and CEO of NVIDIA in Riyadh - SPA
President of the Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA)met on Sunday with Founder, President and CEO of NVIDIA in Riyadh - SPA

President of the Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA) Dr. Abdullah bin Sharaf Alghamdi welcomed on Sunday the Founder, President and CEO of NVIDIA, Jensen Huang, at the authority’s headquarters in Riyadh.
During the meeting, Alghamdi and Huang discussed areas of mutual cooperation between SDAIA and NVIDIA, particularly in technological projects and exchange of expertise in the fields of data and artificial intelligence.
They also explored the latest developments in data and AI worldwide and highlighted NVIDIA's participation in the Global Smart City Forum (GSCF 2024) organized by SDAIA in Riyadh on February 12 and 13, SPA reported.
The meeting reflects ongoing cooperation between SDAIA and NVIDIA, especially in launching a multi-year program to establish a high-performance supercomputing platform in the Kingdom.
The platform will contribute to the development of various AI-supported applications in language technology and computer vision, helping to achieve the aspirations of AI adoption in the Kingdom.



Downloads of DeepSeek's AI Apps Paused in South Korea Over Privacy Concerns 

People watch a TV reporting DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence startup, during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. (AP)
People watch a TV reporting DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence startup, during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. (AP)
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Downloads of DeepSeek's AI Apps Paused in South Korea Over Privacy Concerns 

People watch a TV reporting DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence startup, during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. (AP)
People watch a TV reporting DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence startup, during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. (AP)

DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence startup, has temporarily paused downloads of its chatbot apps in South Korea while it works with local authorities to address privacy concerns, South Korean officials said Monday.

South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission said DeepSeek’s apps were removed from the local versions of Apple’s App Store and Google Play on Saturday evening and that the company agreed to work with the agency to strengthen privacy protections before relaunching the apps.

The action does not affect users who have already downloaded DeepSeek on their phones or use it on personal computers. Nam Seok, director of the South Korean commission’s investigation division, advised South Korean users of DeepSeek to delete the app from their devices or avoid entering personal information into the tool until the issues are resolved.

DeepSeek got worldwide attention last month when it claimed it built its popular chatbot at a fraction of the cost of those made by US companies. The resulting frenzy upended markets and fueled debates over competition between the US and China in developing AI technology.

Many South Korean government agencies and companies have either blocked DeepSeek from their networks or prohibited employees from using the app for work, amid worries that the AI model was gathering too much sensitive information.

The South Korean privacy commission, which began reviewing DeepSeek’s services last month, found that the company lacked transparency about third-party data transfers and potentially collected excessive personal information, Nam said.

Nam said the commission did not have an estimate on the number of DeepSeek users in South Korea. A recent analysis by Wiseapp Retail found that DeepSeek was used by about 1.2 million smartphone users in South Korea during the fourth week of January, emerging as the second-most-popular AI model behind ChatGPT.