Google, KAUST Collaborate to Boost AI Research in KSA
Saudi Arabia is committed to using AI to support its Vision 2030 goals of economic diversification and improving public services.
Google has awarded five seed grants to faculty members at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) to support artificial intelligence (AI) research in Saudi Arabia. These grants, totaling $100,000, will fund projects focused on multilingual, multimodal machine learning using generative and large language models (LLMs).[1]
The researchers from KAUST’s computer, electrical, and mathematical sciences and engineering (CEMSE) division will explore AI applications in health, cross-cultural language understanding, sustainability, privacy, and education.
The grant recipients include Bernard Ghanem, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Computer Science, who will focus on redefining traditional continual learning setups and evaluations; Tareq Al-Naffouri, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, who will develop a flexible and efficient open radio access network infrastructure; and Mohamed Elhoseiny, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, who will conduct a study titled “No Culture Left Behind: Assistive Multilingual Vision LLMs for Cultural and Cross-Cultural Vision-Language Understanding.”
Other recipients are Di Wang, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, and Xin Gao, Professor of Computer Science. Google will also pair each grant recipient with a Google researcher to serve as their sponsor.
These grants coincide with KAUST’s announcement of a new Center of Excellence in Generative AI, chaired by Ghanem, aiming to accelerate generative AI research and development in the kingdom.
Saudi Arabia is committed to using AI to support its Vision 2030 goals of economic diversification and improving public services.
It also established the Saudi Data & AI Authority (SDAIA) to drive the national agenda for Data and AI.
Fahd Al-Rabadi, head of the National Data Management Office at SDAIA, reaffirmed Saudi Arabia’s commitment to fostering ethical and responsible artificial intelligence (AI) development both locally and globally
In March, the Saudi Arabian government announced an initiative to boost its artificial intelligence sector with a proposed $40 billion investment fund.
The fund, expected to kick off in the second half (H2) of 2024, aims to support various AI-related ventures, including startups focusing on chip manufacturing and data centers.