According to a report by the New York Times, the government of Saudi Arabia is planning to create a fund of approximately $40 billion to invest in artificial intelligence.

The Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia has been discussing a possible partnership with venture capital company Andreessen Horowitz and other financiers in recent weeks.

The report suggests that PIF and Andreessen Horowitz have discussed the possibility of the U.S. firm setting up an office in Riyadh.

The plan is to launch the artificial intelligence fund in the second half of 2024, and other venture capitalists may join the fund.

PIF officials have indicated that the country is interested in supporting various tech start-ups associated with artificial intelligence, including chip makers and large-scale data centers.

The report suggests that the fund’s plans could still change.

Last month, PIF’s governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan pitched the kingdom as a possible hub for Ai activity outside the U.S., citing its energy resources and funding capacity.

Al-Rumayyan had said that the kingdom had the “political will” to make Ai projects happen and ample funds it could deploy to nurture the technology’s development.

Neither PIF nor Andreessen Horowitz have commented on the news yet.

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According to the state-owned Saudi Press Agency, the international technology conference LEAP 24 has attracted investment deals worth $888 million. 

The investments include funds for venture capital and start-ups and are intended to support innovation and tech entrepreneurship in the region.  

Investcorp launched a $500 million fund to target Saudi businesses in their growth stages. 

 The National Development Fund and the Social Development Bank established the $40 million Gaming and Esports Investment Fund, managed by Impact46. 

Merak Capital also established an $80 million fund to back game accelerators in the kingdom.  

Furthermore, another fund worth $50 million was launched by Takamol Holdings to support early-stage firms, while Plug and Play and X by Unifonic announced two more funds to support technology start-ups and business software services for young businesses.  

In addition, Saudi-based start-ups raised a total investment of $53.4 million. Among them, BRKZ, an international information technology firm secured $8 million in a Series A round. 

 FanZ, an AI-enabled sport tech secured $1.5 million in pre-seed funding, and Lawazem, an online B2B supplies player secured $8 million, among many others. 

About LEAP 2024: 

LEAP 2024 was a highly successful technological conference that attracted 50,000 guests from outside the Kingdom.  

Al-Khamisi proudly declared it as the most attended conference of its kind in the world, with a total of 215,000 visitors. 

This contributed to a surge in hotel occupancy rates in Riyadh, which reached 99 percent during the conference. Furthermore, many new projects were announced at the event. 

investments totaling $13.4 billion, showcasing the Kingdom’s growing economy in the global tech landscape. 

 Read More about LEAP 2024

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The opening day featured presentations from tech giants such as HTC, Accenture, and Microsoft. Dr Yaser Al-Onaizan, CEO of SDAIA, inaugurated the event by introducing the day’s theme as “The Dawn of AI” in front of a diverse audience of international thought leaders, practitioners, policymakers, and academics from different fields.

Al-Onaizan revealed that this week’s participants include people from big companies such as Google, Meta, and Huawei, as well as entrepreneurs and smaller companies, and people working in AI from some of the world’s leading universities, such as Stanford and Berkeley.

The opening ceremony also marked the public debut of Mohammad the Humanoid Robot, QSS Systems’ latest Saudi-made bilingual robot, and the male counterpart of SARA, the first humanoid robot built in the Kingdom. Mohammad addressed the audience in flawless Arabic while gesticulating with his hands, introducing himself as the first Saudi robot in the form of a man.

He explained that he was developed in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a national project to showcase the country’s achievements in the field of artificial intelligence and inspire a new generation of AI enthusiasts.

On the DeepMedia Stage, Waseem Sayegh, Head of Live Ops at TikTok METAP, delivered a keynote address about the evolution of media from the first public television demonstration in 1927 to the present-day internet age. He highlighted the power of online creation and how TikTok users can showcase Saudi culture to the world, build partnerships, relationships, and careers.

He also mentioned the recent tribute to Saudi Arabia launched on TikTok, which celebrated Foundation Day and broadcasted Saudi culture to billions of people worldwide through thousands of hours of content created by thousands of creators.

Sayegh then provided examples of regional creators who have used TikTok accounts to develop their careers, from a Saudi cooking influencer who renowned chef Jamie Oliver invited to review his restaurant, to a UAE-based fashion influencer who has launched her own clothing label and is in the process of creating her first makeup At the DeepFest Main Stage, Omar Hatamleh, the award-winning Chief Advisor of AI and Innovation at NASA, delivered a 20-minute presentation that covered various topics.

He spoke about racial and gender bias in AI, 3D printing of biological organs based on genetics, collective learning in the automobile industry, and the economic impact of longevity. He also highlighted the potential negative impact on humans’ cognitive skills through increased use of AI.

Hatamleh, who holds four engineering degrees and speaks four languages, showed a short video of two men attacking a mechanical robot and asked the audience if they felt empathy for the faceless, metal robot. Only a few hands went up.

He then posed a philosophical question, “What if this robot looked like a human, understood you, and was able to empathize with you on a deeper level than anybody else in the world?” Hatamleh has received multiple awards and recognitions from NASA, including the Silver Achievement Medal, the NASA Innovation Award, and the Superior Achievement Award.

In his closing comments, Hatamleh urged strategists to see things from different perspectives. He compared it to how astronauts look at the globe from space and see an incredibly beautiful planet without borders or countries. He then comes back to Earth with a transformed mind.

Gary Sorrentino, the Global CIO at Zoom Inc., shared his perspective on the new economy of ‘New Collar Workers’ who are becoming a challenge for employers today. These workers have proved they can do high-level work as well as showing they do not need to do it in an office.

Sorrentino urged corporate leaders to learn from past technological advancements. He emphasized that when it comes to AI, you can’t just turn it on. Instead, you need to figure out how to operationalize it and teach employees how to use it.

He used spreadsheets as an example, stating that even though the most famous spreadsheet software was created 30 years ago, we still only use two percent of it.

DeepFest, which runs from March 4-7 at the Riyadh Exhibition and Convention Centre in Malham, continues Tuesday with presentations from Google, Meta, the US Chamber of Commerce, Noon, and many others. The event also includes live demos, training sessions, and start-up pitches.hes.

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