It seems like in recent times, Gulf powerhouses Saudi Arabia and the UAE (United Arab Emirates) are said to have embarked on a journey to secure their foothold in the realm of AI. The two countries are said to have ambitious economic plans and ample financial resources at their disposal.
Acquiring thousands of Nvidia’s high-performance chips, which could serve as the backbone for AI software development. Nvidia is an AI hardware and software company. These chips, particularly Nvidia’s H100, are valued at $40,000 per unit. Saudi Arabia, through the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (Kaust), is said to have procured around 3000 Nvidia H100 chips. It is said that windfalls from surging energy prices have led these Gulf states to have abundant capital resources.
So, the Middle East could be poised to create their AI platforms and establish some AI sovereignty. But, there are some concerns. Some say that certain countries may have authoritarian regimes. There is some fear that AI tech could be misused for purposes, like surveillance and crackdowns on human rights activists and journalists.
And with Saudi Arabia and the UAE leveraging their petrodollar windfalls, they are said to be reaching out to AI start-ups in the West. This is said to be for offering financing and access to data in exchange for expertise and computing resources.
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