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Saudi Arabia Signs Contracts Worth $426.6 Mln to Boost Defense Research and Development

GADD hosts the second edition of the JISR 2025 Forum on Sunday. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
GADD hosts the second edition of the JISR 2025 Forum on Sunday. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Arabia Signs Contracts Worth $426.6 Mln to Boost Defense Research and Development

GADD hosts the second edition of the JISR 2025 Forum on Sunday. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
GADD hosts the second edition of the JISR 2025 Forum on Sunday. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Saudi General Authority for Defense Development (GADD) has signed contracts worth over SAR 1.6 billion ($426.6 million) in 2024 to support research in five key areas addressing military and security priorities. These efforts align with Saudi Arabia’s broader goal of localizing 50% of its military spending by 2030.

Established four years ago, GADD is responsible for regulating, supervising and promoting research, development, and innovation in defense technologies and national security. It aims to advance these fields while fostering the localization of defense sector outputs.

On Sunday, GADD hosted the second edition of the JISR 2025 Forum, bringing together 29 local universities, research centers and national companies, alongside international institutions from the UK and France. The event showcased the scientific achievements of over 90 students.

Speaking at the forum in Riyadh, GADD Governor Dr. Faleh Al-Sulaiman highlighted Saudi Arabia’s progress in scientific and technological research, noting that the Kingdom has published over 55,000 research papers and registered more than 2,700 patents.

The first edition of the forum led to 23 research projects across six Saudi universities, strengthening ties between academia and the defense industry, he remarked.

Dr. Abdullah Aba Al-Khail, Director of Corporate Communications at GADD, stressed to Asharq Al-Awsat the authority’s commitment to enhancing Saudi Arabia’s defense self-sufficiency by fostering collaboration between academia and industry.

Over the past year, students have contributed 68 research projects across five main fields and 40 specialized topics addressing military and security needs, he revealed. These projects, supported by previously signed contracts worth SAR 1.6 billion, aim to integrate university expertise into industrial applications.

Students at the forum presented research projects aimed at advancing security and military technology. Iman Al-Attas, a PhD student at King Abdulaziz University, developed a deepfake detection model capable of identifying AI-generated fraudulent videos, helping to prevent identity fraud and misinformation.

Mansour Al-Harithi, a PhD researcher at King Saud University, is working on nano-sensors designed to detect hazardous pollutants in water with extreme sensitivity, even at minimal concentrations.

Nouf Al-Hibad, an AI master’s student at Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, is developing wearable authentication technology that verifies user identity based on movement patterns and sensor data, complementing facial and retinal recognition.

Students praised GADD’s financial and logistical support, which has enabled them to turn research concepts into marketable products, contributing to the localization of Saudi defense spending. Founded in 2021 under a government decision, GADD operates as an independent entity directly linked to Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Prime Minister. It plays a central role in advancing Saudi Arabia’s defense research, innovation and localization efforts.

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Technology

Meta Unveils Plans for Batch of In-house AI Chips

Mark Zuckerberg outside the court where he testified in a landmark trial (Reuters)
Mark Zuckerberg outside the court where he testified in a landmark trial (Reuters)
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Meta Unveils Plans for Batch of In-house AI Chips

Mark Zuckerberg outside the court where he testified in a landmark trial (Reuters)
Mark Zuckerberg outside the court where he testified in a landmark trial (Reuters)

Meta Platforms on Wednesday unveiled a roadmap of four new chips that the company is making in-house, as it rapidly expands its data centers.

Like many big tech companies such as Alphabet and Microsoft, Meta has invested heavily in building a team that can design chips in-house in addition to purchasing off-the-shelf products made by Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices.

Making chips designed to tackle the specific types of data crunching Meta requires can lead to designs that use less energy and at a better cost.

The new chips are part of the company's Meta Training and Inference Accelerator (MTIA) program and the first of the new chips called the MTIA 300 is in use powering the company's ranking and recommendation systems. The other three will be rolled out this year and in 2027, with the final two chips, the MTIA 450 and 500 being designed to perform inference, the process when an AI model such as the one that powers the ChatGPT app responds to customer queries and requests.

"We see inference demand exploding at the moment and that's what we're currently focused on," Yee Jiun Song, Meta's vice president of engineering, said in an interview.

Meta has had some success with inference chips but has struggled with its long-time ambitions to make a generative AI training chip, capable of building the large models that power AI apps.

Beginning with the MTIA 400, which the company says is on the path to being used in its data centers, Meta has designed an entire system around the chips, which is roughly the size of several server racks and includes a version of liquid cooling.

The company plans to release the new chips at six-month intervals because it is rapidly expanding the number of data centers it uses to run apps like Instagram and Facebook, Song said.

"That is the reality of how quickly our infrastructure is being built out," Song said.

The company said in January it expects capital spending of between $115 billion and $135 billion this year.

Meta contracts Broadcom to help with some elements of the designs, though Song did not specify which chips. The company uses Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co to fabricate the processors.

In February, Meta signed big deals with Nvidia and AMD to buy tens of billions of dollars worth of chips.

Technology

SDAIA Unveils Logo for Saudi Arabia's Year of Artificial Intelligence 2026

The logo integrates symbolism in its elements
The logo integrates symbolism in its elements
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SDAIA Unveils Logo for Saudi Arabia's Year of Artificial Intelligence 2026

The logo integrates symbolism in its elements
The logo integrates symbolism in its elements

The Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA) has launched the official logo for the Year of Artificial Intelligence 2026, after it was approved by the Cabinet.

This move underscores the Kingdom’s commitment to advancing artificial intelligence, reinforcing its role as a global hub in data and AI, and highlighting key achievements in this cutting-edge sector.

The logo integrates symbolism in its elements: the palm tree signifies the national emblem and the Kingdom’s cultural heritage, while the letters ‘AI’ highlight the technological and innovative aspects central to promoting digital inclusion as part of Vision 2030.

The palm tree’s green color symbolizes the Saudi flag and the Kingdom’s national identity, while the accompanying blue color represents digital technology and the Kingdom’s progression toward advanced technological development.

The logo is accompanied by the official hashtag for the Year of Artificial Intelligence: #SaudiAIYear.

Technology

‘Stealth Hit’ Pokemon Game Sends Nintendo Shares Soaring

Japan's Nintendo has enjoyed bumper sales for its latest Switch 2 console. (AFP)
Japan's Nintendo has enjoyed bumper sales for its latest Switch 2 console. (AFP)
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‘Stealth Hit’ Pokemon Game Sends Nintendo Shares Soaring

Japan's Nintendo has enjoyed bumper sales for its latest Switch 2 console. (AFP)
Japan's Nintendo has enjoyed bumper sales for its latest Switch 2 console. (AFP)

Fan buzz around life-simulation game "Pokemon Pokopia" sent Nintendo shares soaring on Wednesday, with some hailing the new title as a welcome antidote to global conflicts.

Japan's Nintendo has enjoyed bumper sales for its latest Switch 2 console, but some have called the line-up of new games for the device lackluster.

So early success for "Pokemon Pokopia", released on March 5 to rave reviews and reports of store sell-outs around the world, has relieved investors.

"Pokemon Pokopia" launched as a Switch 2 exclusive, "immediately becoming a viral stealth hit", analyst Atul Goyal from investment bank Jefferies said.

"The title successfully bridges the gap between core gamers and casual audiences," Goyal said.

The new Pokemon game has an aggregated review score of 89 on Metacritic, which Goyal described as a high for the three-decade-old video game franchise.

Nintendo shares were up nine percent in mid-morning trade on Wednesday, also likely boosted by the release of the final trailer for the star-studded upcoming "Super Mario" movie sequel.

Players have compared the game, in which they control a human-like character to rejuvenate a village, to "Animal Crossing" -- another Nintendo life-sim that became a hit during the pandemic.

"If you're looking for a mental break from the world def get Pokopia, it's like therapy," US-based influencer Ashley Duncan wrote on X.

"For Covid we had Animal Crossing. For WW3 we have Pokopia. Thank you for the distractions, Nintendo," said another X post from fan account Pokemon Daily Post, which has nearly 90 million followers.

The basic premise of Pokemon, inspired by the Japanese summer childhood tradition of bug-collecting, is to catch and train in battle hundreds of round-eyed "pocket monsters".

The phenomenon has evolved since the first 1996 game release with anime series, movies, a trading card game and the augmented reality smartphone app "Pokemon Go".

Nintendo's Switch 2, the world's fastest-selling games console, launched in June 2025 as the successor to the first Switch.

The original is now the second top-selling console of all time after Sony's PlayStation 2, boosted by the popularity of games including "Animal Crossing".