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Saudi Arabia: KACST Signs 13 Partnership Agreements to Build Semiconductor System

KACST signed 13 local and international strategic partnerships to build the semiconductor system. SPA
KACST signed 13 local and international strategic partnerships to build the semiconductor system. SPA
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Saudi Arabia: KACST Signs 13 Partnership Agreements to Build Semiconductor System

KACST signed 13 local and international strategic partnerships to build the semiconductor system. SPA
KACST signed 13 local and international strategic partnerships to build the semiconductor system. SPA

King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) signed 13 local and international strategic partnerships to build the semiconductor system, establish centers of excellence to accelerate technical development in emerging technologies and future communications, and qualify national cadres, as part of the work of LEAP tech conference.

KACST's partnerships in the field of localization of the semiconductor industry included, Alat Company, one of the Public Investment Fund (PIF) companies, in which it built and supported the semiconductor system in the Kingdom, while its partnership with the Global Semiconductor Group (GSG) focused on designing electronic chips, building national talents and attracting global competencies and international companies in the field of electronic chip design to the Kingdom market.

In the field of future communications and open networks, KACST through its strategic partnership with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the Research, Development and Innovation Authority (RDIA), the Saudi Telecom Company (STC), and Saudi Aramco, established a national technical and industrial alliance in the fields of 5G and 6G communications technologies and Open RAN, to create an ecosystem to stimulate innovation and entrepreneurship in future communication technologies, ensuring the Kingdom’s global role as a major developer of 6G technologies.

KACST, in partnership with Aramco, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the RDIA, and the National Industrial Development and Logistics Program, launched the Saudi Accelerated Innovation Center to enhance quantum technologies and develop 5G and 6G communications networks.
KACST launched a strategic partnership with Animoca Brands to enhance the application of Web 3 system in the Kingdom, facilitate the arrangement of companies and institutions to enter the Web 3 system, and identify joint research and development projects in blockchain applications, games, artificial intelligence, and metaverse development.
To promote public health, KACST has concluded a strategic partnership with Ascend Solutions Ltd. to develop innovation in the field of digital health and disability research, promote virtual health care, and contribute to building innovative health technologies using AI and Internet of Things technologies.
To localize emerging technologies and build future cities, KACST signed a strategic partnership with Cisco Saudi Arabia Limited Company to establish the Virtual Digital Innovation Center (VDIC).
KACST also signed a strategic partnership with Elm Company, to enhance cooperation in the field of future cities' technologies and emerging technologies, in addition to its partnership with Tulip Technologies Company to enhance cooperation in research and development, and training in the field of robotics, AI, and automation.
To achieve the objectives of the Made in Saudi Program, KACST signed a strategic partnership with CiDi Auto (Hong Kong) Limited, to cooperate in research and development activities related to heavy trucks, future transportation technologies, and smart cities, and to explore the feasibility of supplying the Saudi market with these trucks, and work on research, design and manufacturing of vehicles in the Kingdom to join the international market.
Additionally, the partnership is designed to facilitate the testing and implementation of new technologies in KACST laboratories, establishing laboratories in common fields, and hosting technical companies that focus on research, development and innovation activities.
To boost innovation, KACST has established a partnership with the Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited to develop the infrastructure of science and technology parks in the Kingdom, facilitate the entry of companies from the Kingdom and Hong Kong into potential markets, help them succeed and adapt, and create opportunities for cooperation in digital service platforms and programs to enhance operating efficiency and provide services in science and technology fields.
Regarding developing the skills of national cadres; the Academy 32 at KACST signed a strategic partnership with Cisco Saudi Arabia Limited and Nortal, to transfer knowledge and qualify human cadres in the field of professional certificates in information technology.

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Technology

Tesla Invites Select Customers to Buy Cybercab for Personal Use

A passenger waves from a Tesla Cybercab driverless taxi as it travels through downtown Austin, Texas, US, October 27, 2026. (Reuters)
A passenger waves from a Tesla Cybercab driverless taxi as it travels through downtown Austin, Texas, US, October 27, 2026. (Reuters)
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Tesla Invites Select Customers to Buy Cybercab for Personal Use

A passenger waves from a Tesla Cybercab driverless taxi as it travels through downtown Austin, Texas, US, October 27, 2026. (Reuters)
A passenger waves from a Tesla Cybercab driverless taxi as it travels through downtown Austin, Texas, US, October 27, 2026. (Reuters)

Tesla said on Friday it was inviting select customers to buy the Cybercab for personal use, marking a push towards delivering fully designed autonomous vehicles to customers.

Tesla posted the announcement on X ‌with an ‌image of the golden butterfly door ‌two-seater, ⁠priced at $29,990 with ⁠an “Autonomy Subscription” of $299 a month.

Chief Executive Elon Musk said in a post on X that the offering would be available nationwide as Tesla receives regulatory approval.

"The monthly fee is too ⁠high," Musk said, adding that ‌it should match the ‌cost of Tesla Full Self Driving and connectivity ‌for other models, which is about $115 ‌per month.

The EV maker aims to start selling its Cybercab robotaxis to the public by the end of this year, ‌Lars Moravy, Tesla's vice president of vehicle engineering, said last month.

The ⁠Cybercab will work unsupervised in all the same geo locations as the robotaxi, Tesla’s head of artificial intelligence, Ashok Elluswamy, said in a separate X post.

Tesla launched its unsupervised robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, in June 2025, expanded the offering to Dallas and Houston in April 2026 and rolled it out in Miami in July 2026.

Technology

Microsoft Says All Services Restored After Global Outage

A view shows a Microsoft logo at Microsoft offices in Issy-les-Moulineaux near Paris, France, January 9, 2025. (Reuters)
A view shows a Microsoft logo at Microsoft offices in Issy-les-Moulineaux near Paris, France, January 9, 2025. (Reuters)
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Microsoft Says All Services Restored After Global Outage

A view shows a Microsoft logo at Microsoft offices in Issy-les-Moulineaux near Paris, France, January 9, 2025. (Reuters)
A view shows a Microsoft logo at Microsoft offices in Issy-les-Moulineaux near Paris, France, January 9, 2025. (Reuters)

Microsoft said on Saturday that services had fully recovered across Teams, Outlook and its other products, ending a global outage that crippled online communications for businesses and governments for over 24 hours. 

"We have completed our efforts to address the underlying issue of the incident and restored service to the remaining impacted customers and regions," the company posted on X. 

Microsoft had said server issues were behind the incident that also affected its Copilot AI assistant, and that it was not aware of any malicious activity, ruling out AI as the cause. 

Outlook and Teams are two of the most widely used workplace applications with hundreds of millions of users. The outage prevented people from performing essential functions such as sending emails, managing calendars and hosting virtual meetings. 

It affected government agencies from Australia and Japan to the United States, caused delays at trading firms, hindered some companies from publishing earnings and prompted airlines to warn customers of communication lags, according to public statements. 

Organizations that host Microsoft services on ‌their own servers, rather than ‌in the cloud, were somewhat spared. 

ANOTHER OUTAGE FOR MICROSOFT 

The outage, reports of which started climbing around ‌1725 GMT on ⁠Thursday according to ⁠Ookla, is one of the longest in Microsoft's history and the second disruption to its services this year. 

Microsoft said the outage specifically hit features tied to Exchange Online — its cloud-based email and scheduling hub — leaving unconnected applications operational. 

The incident deepens questions about the global reliance on a handful of Big Tech companies that supply both the essential software and the cloud infrastructure that underpins it. 

It also highlighted the dependence on Microsoft's workplace software, with outage reports spiking as employees began their workdays across Asia and Europe, according to Downdetector's parent company, Ookla. 

Downdetector logged more than 7.4 million reports worldwide, peaking at nearly 20,000 a minute, more than 1,500 times normal levels. 

"It shows how much of the working day now runs through one provider's email and collaboration tools," said Luke Kehoe, lead industry analyst at Ookla. 

Microsoft shares closed flat at $523.88 on Friday. The stock has ⁠gained roughly 8% so far this year. 

Disruptions and financial losses from the outage could result in numerous insurance claims, ‌but the overall hit to insurers is expected to be limited, said Mario De Cicco, vice president ‌of European financial institutions at Morningstar DBRS. 

De Cicco estimated global insured losses from the incident at between $300 million and $500 million, well below the $400 million to $1.5 billion financial toll from the ‌2024 CrowdStrike outage that crashed more than 8 million Windows-based computers and caused widespread disruptions. 

Microsoft also faced an outage with its 365 services in January this ‌year and in October last year. Last month, it reported an outage of its Azure cloud platform that impacted its suite of productivity software and a range of industries worldwide. 

"The bigger worry is that this is not the first Microsoft 365 outage this year," said Josh Gilbert, a market analyst at trading platform eToro. 

"If reliability starts to look like a recurring problem, it hands every IT department a reason to think twice before putting even more of their business in one provider's hands." 

Still, some analysts have questioned whether such ‌incidents can push customers on to rivals due to the steep switching costs of replacing tools embedded so deeply in daily operations. 

TRADES HAD TO BE CONFIRMED BY FAX 

A spokesperson for the UK government said it was ⁠working with Microsoft to find a solution ⁠for the outage that hit organizations such as the NHS and London's Metropolitan Police. 

Lack of access to emails and other services was impacting the Metropolitan Police's ability to report some crimes online, though its ability to respond to calls was not affected. 

The NHS said its local services were turning to alternate measures such as using IT systems or paper records. 

For businesses, the fallout was widespread. 

European exchange operator Euronext reported email disruptions, British insurer Aviva activated backups for its earnings calls and Danish shipping giant Maersk warned customers of delayed updates. 

American AI giants OpenAI and Anthropic also faced issues with Microsoft connectors that were later resolved, while Indian airlines IndiGo, Akasa Air and Air India said their email support services were impacted. 

The outage also disrupted fund management at Taiwanese securities firms, life insurers, and investment trust companies. One of the companies went as far as cancelling a bond repurchase transaction, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters. 

Another Taiwanese financial company resorted to using fax to confirm trades, a second source said. 

In the US, electric truck maker Workhorse Group rescheduled its results on Thursday to November 16, while Switzerland's Richemont briefly delayed its first-half results announcement on Friday. 

In Australia, where the spy agency and federal police were among organizations caught in the outage, Cyber Security Minister Tony Burke said Microsoft does not suspect a cyberattack. 

Technology

Hours-Long Microsoft Outage Disrupts Businesses, Governments Globally

This illustration photograph shows the Microsoft Outlook logo (C) displayed on a smartphone with the backdrop of Microsoft logo on a screen, in New Delhi on November 13, 2026. (AFP)
This illustration photograph shows the Microsoft Outlook logo (C) displayed on a smartphone with the backdrop of Microsoft logo on a screen, in New Delhi on November 13, 2026. (AFP)
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Hours-Long Microsoft Outage Disrupts Businesses, Governments Globally

This illustration photograph shows the Microsoft Outlook logo (C) displayed on a smartphone with the backdrop of Microsoft logo on a screen, in New Delhi on November 13, 2026. (AFP)
This illustration photograph shows the Microsoft Outlook logo (C) displayed on a smartphone with the backdrop of Microsoft logo on a screen, in New Delhi on November 13, 2026. (AFP)

A more than 12-hour outage of Microsoft Outlook and Teams crippled communications for businesses and governments globally on Friday, forcing some organizations to revert to fax machines and halting at least one bond repurchase in Europe.

Microsoft said server issues were behind the incident that also affected its Copilot AI assistant and that a broader roll-out of software fixes was starting to stabilize the system. It said it was not aware of any malicious activity.

Outlook and Teams are two of the most widely used workplace applications with hundreds of millions of users. The outage prevented people from performing essential functions such as sending emails, managing calendars and hosting virtual meetings.

It affected government agencies from Australia to Japan and the United States, caused delays at trading firms, hindered some companies from publishing earnings and prompted airlines to warn customers of communication lags, according to public statements.

Organizations that host Microsoft services ‌on their own servers, ‌rather than in the cloud, were somewhat spared.

ANOTHER OUTAGE FOR MICROSOFT

The outage is one of ‌the ⁠longest in Microsoft's ⁠history and the second disruption to its services this year.

Microsoft said the outage specifically hit features tied to Exchange Online - its cloud-based email and scheduling hub - leaving unconnected applications operational.

The incident deepens questions about the global reliance on a handful of Big Tech companies that supply both the essential software and the cloud infrastructure that underpins it.

Microsoft shares were down 0.4% in early trading. They have gained roughly 8% so far this year.

Disruptions and financial losses from the outage could result in numerous insurance claims, but the overall hit to insurers is expected to be limited, said Mario De Cicco, vice president of European financial institutions at Morningstar DBRS.

De Cicco estimated global insured losses from the incident at between $300 million and $500 million, well below ⁠the $400 million to $1.5 billion financial toll from the 2024 CrowdStrike outage that crashed more than 8 million ‌Windows-based computers and caused widespread disruptions.

Microsoft also faced an outage with its 365 services in January ‌this year and in October last year. Last month, it reported an outage of its Azure cloud platform that impacted its suite of productivity software, ‌and a range of industries worldwide.

"The bigger worry is that this is not the first Microsoft 365 outage this year," said Josh ‌Gilbert, a market analyst at trading platform eToro.

"If reliability starts to look like a recurring problem, it hands every IT department a reason to think twice before putting even more of their business in one provider’s hands."

Still, some analysts have questioned whether such incidents can push customers on to rivals due to the steep switching costs of replacing tools embedded so deeply in daily operations.

TRADES HAD TO BE CONFIRMED BY FAX

A spokesperson for the UK government said ‌it was working with Microsoft to find a solution for the outage that hit organizations such as the NHS and London’s Metropolitan Police.

Lack of access emails and other services was impacting ⁠the Metropolitan Police's ability to report some ⁠crimes online, though its ability to respond to calls was not affected.

NHS said its local services were turning to alternate measures such as using IT systems or paper records.

For businesses, the fallout was widespread.

European exchange operator Euronext reported email disruptions, British insurer Aviva activated backups for its earnings calls and Danish shipping giant Maersk warned customers of delayed updates.

American AI giants OpenAI and Anthropic also faced issues with Microsoft connectors, while Indian airlines IndiGo, Akasa Air and Air India said their email support services were impacted.

The outage also disrupted fund management at Taiwanese securities firms, life insurers, and investment trust companies. One of the companies went as far as cancelling a bond repurchase transaction, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters.

Another Taiwanese financial company resorted to using fax to confirm trades, a second source said.

In the US, electric truck maker Workhorse Group rescheduled its results on Thursday to November 16, while Switzerland's Richemont briefly delayed its first-half results announcement on Friday.

In Australia, where the spy agency and federal police were among organizations caught in the outage, Cyber Security Minister Tony Burke said Microsoft does not suspect a cyber attack.

"The impact that they are dealing with ... is very much on email systems," the minister added.