Saudi – Arabia and China has hopefully agreed rather smaller Saudi-Sino deal, a couple of months earlier while Xi Jinping’s State Visit to Saudi Arabia last week which gained a great deal of attention. The deal may yet prove to have the longer lasting implications.
The Saudi Company for Artificial Intelligence (SCAI) has announced an investment of US$776 million in a joint venture with China’s SenseTime to develop the artificial intelligence ecosystem in the country. The announcement was made by Ayman AlRashed, CEO of SCAI, during the Global AI Summit in Riyadh on September 13, the agencies reported.
SCAI is wholly owned by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, and coordinates with the Saudi Vision 2030, the National Development plan that sets out impressive goals to transform the country – and is increasingly aligned with China’s Belt and Road Initiative. SCAI aims to position Saudi Arabia as a global AI leader by supporting local firms as they start to embrace the new technologies that AI will introduce.
According to a press release made at the time, SCAI will work closely with SenseTime, including the joint operations of an AI laboratory acting as a dedicated research and development center, allowing the next generation of data scientists to benefit from the transfer of AI technology from China.
