SDAIA Partners with NVIDIA to Boost Saudi Arabia's AI Capabilities 

SDAIA announced its plan to collaborate with NVIDIA to help developers more easily build and deploy AI applications using the "ALLaM" Arabic language model. (SPA)
SDAIA announced its plan to collaborate with NVIDIA to help developers more easily build and deploy AI applications using the "ALLaM" Arabic language model. (SPA)
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SDAIA Partners with NVIDIA to Boost Saudi Arabia's AI Capabilities 

SDAIA announced its plan to collaborate with NVIDIA to help developers more easily build and deploy AI applications using the "ALLaM" Arabic language model. (SPA)
SDAIA announced its plan to collaborate with NVIDIA to help developers more easily build and deploy AI applications using the "ALLaM" Arabic language model. (SPA)

The Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) announced on Tuesday its plan to collaborate with NVIDIA to help developers more easily build and deploy Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications using the "ALLaM" Arabic language model. The partnership also aims to boost the model's effectiveness and expand its capabilities by leveraging NVIDIA's advanced technological expertise.

The announcement was made during the third Global AI (GAIN) Summit, which kicked off in Riyadh on Tuesday.

The summit was attended by SDAIA President Dr. Abdullah bin Sharaf Al-Ghamdi, SDAIA Vice President Dr. Sami bin Abdullah Muqeem, National Information Center Director Dr. Essam bin Abdullah Al-Wagait, and National Data Management Office (NDMO) head Al-Rabdi bin Fahd Al-Rabdi.

The collaboration allows the ALLaM model to benefit from the NVIDIA NeMo platform, part of NVIDIA's AI software, to train language models and make them widely accessible to users, while implementing safeguards to ensure system security.

NVIDIA provides enhanced, user-friendly capabilities that help developers build generative AI applications using the ALLaM model's features, setting a new standard for AI-based language models in the region. It positions the model as a key player in advanced Arabic-language technologies and helps companies access the newly announced NVIDIA NIM.

In addition to these advancements in AI applications, SDAIA will work closely with NVIDIA to boost its supercomputing infrastructure.

Moreover, there are plans that include establishing one of the largest high-performance data centers in the Middle East and North Africa by upgrading the existing infrastructure of SDAIA's NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD, which boasts unique specifications.

The expansion will integrate NVIDIA's most advanced technologies, eventually reaching over 5,000 GPUs. Hence, it will open new horizons for digital innovation and infrastructure in Saudi Arabia.

By integrating the NVIDIA Triton Inference Server for efficient model deployment and NVIDIA TensorRT software, SDAIA ensures the continuous development of its AI infrastructure, keeping it at the forefront of global technological trends.

Through its collaboration with NVIDIA, SDAIA is co-leading a new era of AI-powered transformation in the Kingdom, further strengthening its leadership in digital innovation on the international stage.



The iPhone 16, New AirPods and Other Highlights from Apple’s Product Showcase 

A display of the new Apple iPhone 16 models at Apple's “Glowtime” product launch event on the campus of Apple Park in Cupertino, California, USA, 09 September 2024. (EPA)
A display of the new Apple iPhone 16 models at Apple's “Glowtime” product launch event on the campus of Apple Park in Cupertino, California, USA, 09 September 2024. (EPA)
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The iPhone 16, New AirPods and Other Highlights from Apple’s Product Showcase 

A display of the new Apple iPhone 16 models at Apple's “Glowtime” product launch event on the campus of Apple Park in Cupertino, California, USA, 09 September 2024. (EPA)
A display of the new Apple iPhone 16 models at Apple's “Glowtime” product launch event on the campus of Apple Park in Cupertino, California, USA, 09 September 2024. (EPA)

Apple squarely shifted its focus toward artificial intelligence with the unveiling of its hotly anticipated iPhone 16 along with a slew of new features coming with the next update to the device’s operating system. While the new phone lineup headlined Monday's showcase, the tech giant also shared updates to its smartwatch and AirPod lineups.

Here are all the biggest announcements from Apple's “Glowtime” event.

Apple Intelligence

Apple's core artificial intelligence offerings are being packaged and billed as Apple Intelligence — first revealed at the company's developers conference in June.

These features include the ability to search for images in your library by describing them, creating custom emojis, summarizing emails and prioritizing notifications. Apple Intelligence will also upgrade Apple's virtual assistant Siri to get it to better understand requests and give it some awareness of on-screen actions taking place on the phone, hopefully making it more useful.

What sets Apple apart from what's being offered by rivals Samsung and Google? It is trying to preserve its longtime commitment to privacy by tailoring its AI so that most of its functions are processed on the device itself instead of at remote data centers. When a task requires a connection to a data center, Apple promises it will be done in a tightly controlled way that ensures no personal data is stored remotely.

Most of Apple’s AI functions will roll out as part of a free software update to iOS 18, the operating system that will power the iPhone 16 rolling out from October through December. US English will be the featured language at launch but an update enabling other languages will come out next year, according to Apple.

iPhone 16 and the camera button

The iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max will offer slightly bigger displays and feature variants of the powerful A18 chip, which gives Apple the computing power its devices need to run AI functions.

The iPhone 16 “has been designed for Apple Intelligence from the ground up,” CEO Tim Cook said during Monday's event.

On the other end of the spectrum, the biggest physical change to the iPhone 16 lineup comes in the form of a dedicated camera-control button. The button responds to clicks and gestures, allowing users to quickly snap pictures, preview a shot or start video recording.

The button also allows owners to use something called Visual Intelligence, which will tell the iPhone 16 to automatically search on things you take photos of.

The phones will start shipping Sept. 20. The iPhone 16 will retail for $799, with the Plus model going for $899. The iPhone 16 Pro will cost $999, while the Pro Max will sell for $1,199.

Apple Watch upgrades

The Apple Watch Series 10 features a larger, and brighter, wide-angle OLED display that will allow users to better view the watch at an angle. But Apple focused much of its presentation on the device's ability to detect signs of sleep apnea.

The new device is also being offered in a titanium finish for the first time, joining a longtime trend in the watch industry of offering a tougher, more lightweight, and perceived higher-quality, alternative to traditional materials.

The Series 10 watch starts at $399 and will be available on Sept. 20.

AirPods lean toward being a listening device

The new AirPods 4 series will come with an upgraded chip for better audio quality, and will feature more active noise cancellation.

If you frequently lose your ear buds, the new AirPods will also play a sound when you locate them through the Find My app.

In a medically focused update to the AirPods Pro 2, Apple said it will upgrade the devices so they can act as an over-the-counter hearing aid. A free software update will provide the upgrade and also include options to help protect hearing and the ability to administer a clinical-grade hearing test.

The AirPod 4 model costs $129, while the version with active noise cancelling will cost $179. They both ship on Sept. 20.