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KAUST, Deloitte Sign MoU to Explore AI Applications in Saudi Arabia

The agreement aims to create a platform where scientific breakthroughs in AI meet business applications. (SPA)
The agreement aims to create a platform where scientific breakthroughs in AI meet business applications. (SPA)
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KAUST, Deloitte Sign MoU to Explore AI Applications in Saudi Arabia

The agreement aims to create a platform where scientific breakthroughs in AI meet business applications. (SPA)
The agreement aims to create a platform where scientific breakthroughs in AI meet business applications. (SPA)

The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and Deloitte Middle East signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to launch a new collaboration aimed at advancing the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in Saudi Arabia.

A statement on Monday said the agreement aims to create a platform where scientific breakthroughs in AI meet business applications, ensuring that cutting-edge research is not confined to academic circles but instead reaches industries, markets, and communities across Saudi Arabia.

Through this partnership, Deloitte and KAUST will jointly develop projects that address some of the most complex AI challenges, while also focusing on preparing the next generation of AI talent through lectures, workshops, internships, and exchange opportunities.

The two entities will collaborate on knowledge transfer through joint seminars and conferences, with the ambition of commercializing new AI models and intellectual property emerging from the projects. The partnership will also focus on policy and governance, closely examining the ethical implications of AI technologies and their social impact in the Kingdom.

Deloitte Middle East Partner Sultanbek Khunkaev said: “By partnering with KAUST, we seek to ensure that the transformative power of AI is harnessed to deliver real societal and economic outcomes.”

Professor Gianluca Setti, Dean of the Computer, Electrical and Mathematical Sciences and Engineering Division at KAUST, stated: “We aim to accelerate the development of responsible AI solutions and create new opportunities for talent and knowledge exchange that support Saudi Arabia's leadership in AI and contribute to both national and global priorities.”

The partnership will not be limited to laboratories or classrooms. Industry-specific solutions will be developed in areas where AI can make an immediate impact, whether in health, finance, energy, or logistics, and benchmarking efforts will help establish best practices for adoption. A range of initiatives will grow from the MoU, with both partners committed to developing strategies that can be scaled beyond the Kingdom.

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Technology

Nvidia, Bitcoin and Other Superstars on Wall Street Keep Falling

FILE PHOTO: Representation of Bitcoin cryptocurrency is seen in this illustration taken September 10, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Representation of Bitcoin cryptocurrency is seen in this illustration taken September 10, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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Nvidia, Bitcoin and Other Superstars on Wall Street Keep Falling

FILE PHOTO: Representation of Bitcoin cryptocurrency is seen in this illustration taken September 10, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Representation of Bitcoin cryptocurrency is seen in this illustration taken September 10, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Nvidia, bitcoin and others among Wall Street’s highest flyers are falling more toward Earth on Friday, and the US stock market is heading for a second straight sharp loss.

The S&P 500 sank 1.2%, coming off one of its worst days since its springtime sell-off and a global wipeout for stocks. Critics had been warning that such drops could be possible because of how high stock prices had shot since April, leaving them looking too expensive. They pointed in particular to stocks swept up in the mania around artificial-intelligence technology.

But even with its recent drops, and the S&P 500 on track for a second straight weekly loss, the index that dictates the movements for many 401(k) accounts is still within 3.3% of its record set late last month, Reuters reported.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 582 points, or 1.2%, and was pulling further from its own all-time high set on Wednesday, while the Nasdaq composite was down 1.5%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time.

AI stocks once again were at the center of the action. Nvidia, which has become the poster child of the AI frenzy, fell 2.2%.

To be sure, it’s still up 36.1% for the year so far. That would count as a stellar year for most any stock, but Nvidia’s price has more than doubled in four of the last five years.

Bitcoin, meanwhile, fell below $96,000 and is back to where it was in May. It had been near $125,000 only in October.

That helped drag down stocks of companies throughout the crypto industry. Strategy, the company that’s built a hoard of bitcoin and used to be known as MicroStrategy, fell 4%. Coinbase Global sank 3.1%, and Robinhood Markets dropped 3.6%.

Outside of tech and crypto, Walmart sank 2.4% after saying its CEO, Doug McMillon, will retire in January in a surprise move. He had helped the nation’s largest retailer embrace technology more.

One way companies can tamp down criticism about too-high stock prices is to deliver solid growth in profits. That’s raising the stakes for Nvidia’s upcoming profit report coming on Wednesday, when it will say how much it earned during the summer.

If it falls short of analysts’ lofty expectations, even more drops could be on the way. That would have a huge effect on the market because Nvidia has grown to become Wall Street’s largest stock by value, briefly topping $5 trillion.

That means Nvidia’s stock movements have a bigger effect on the S&P 500 than any other’s, and it can almost single-handedly steer the index up or down on any given day.

Another way for stock prices broadly to look less expensive is if interest rates fall. That’s because when bonds are paying less in interest, investors are often willing to stomach higher prices for stocks and other kinds of investments.

Treasury yields had been falling for most of this year on expectations that the Federal Reserve would cut its main interest rate several times this year. And the Fed has indeed cut twice already in hopes of shoring up the slowing job market.

But questions are rising now about whether a third cut, which traders had earlier seen as very likely, will actually happen at the Fed’s next meeting in December. The downside of lower interest rates is that they can make inflation worse, and it’s already still above the Fed’s 2% target.

Fed officials have pointed to the US government’s shutdown, which just ended. It delayed the release of many updates on the job market and other signals about the economy. With less information and less certainty about how the economy is doing, some Fed officials have said it may be better to just wait in December to get more clarity.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury ticked down to 4.09% from 4.11% late Thursday.

In stock markets abroad, indexes tumbled across Europe and Asia. South Korea’s Kospi fell 3.8%, and Germany’s DAX lost 1.8% for two of the larger drops.

Technology

UNESCO Delegation Visits ICAIRE in Riyadh to Review Global AI Ethics Efforts

The UNESCO delegation also learned about the center's scientific efforts to enhance knowledge exchange with specialized global centers - SPA
The UNESCO delegation also learned about the center's scientific efforts to enhance knowledge exchange with specialized global centers - SPA
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UNESCO Delegation Visits ICAIRE in Riyadh to Review Global AI Ethics Efforts

The UNESCO delegation also learned about the center's scientific efforts to enhance knowledge exchange with specialized global centers - SPA
The UNESCO delegation also learned about the center's scientific efforts to enhance knowledge exchange with specialized global centers - SPA

A UNESCO delegation visited the International Center for AI Research and Ethics (ICAIRE) in Riyadh to review the center's international research and knowledge initiatives focusing on AI ethics, underscoring ICAIRE's role as a global platform leading these ethical efforts under UNESCO's auspices.

Key projects and programs reviewed during the visit included international initiatives supporting the responsible use of AI, research related to safe AI applications, and a capacity-building program aimed at empowering local and global expertise, SPA reported.

The UNESCO delegation also learned about the center's scientific efforts to enhance knowledge exchange with specialized global centers, highlighting ICAIRE's commitment to advancing global ethical standards in AI.

Technology

Amazon, Microsoft Back Effort to Curb Nvidia's Exports to China

FILE PHOTO: Nvidia logo is seen on graphic card package in this illustration taken August 19, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Nvidia logo is seen on graphic card package in this illustration taken August 19, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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Amazon, Microsoft Back Effort to Curb Nvidia's Exports to China

FILE PHOTO: Nvidia logo is seen on graphic card package in this illustration taken August 19, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Nvidia logo is seen on graphic card package in this illustration taken August 19, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Amazon is joining Microsoft in backing legislation to further restrict chipmaker Nvidia's ability to export chips to China, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The legislation, known as the GAIN AI Act, is also backed by AI startup Anthropic, the report said.

Short for Guaranteeing Access and Innovation for National Artificial Intelligence (GAIN), the Act was introduced as part of the National Defense Authorization Act and stipulates that AI chipmakers prioritize domestic orders for advanced processors before supplying them to foreign customers.

Microsoft publicly came out in favor of the legislation, while officials at Amazon's cloud unit have privately told Senate staffers that they also support it, the report said.

Meta Platforms and Alphabet's Google have not taken a position on the Act, and neither has US President Donald Trump, the report added.

White House officials, including AI czar David Sacks, told GAIN Act sponsor Senator Jim Banks that the policy's impact is limited as the Commerce Department already regulates chip exports, the report said.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Amazon declined to comment, while Microsoft, Anthropic and the White House did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

Nvidia, the world's dominant chipmaker, has previously said the GAIN AI Act stands to restrict global competition for advanced chips, limiting computing power available to other countries.

The touted legislation reflects Washington's attempt to prioritize American needs amid fears that China would leverage access to high-end AI capabilities to supercharge its military.