The Middle East, most specifically the nations that constitute the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have long since established themselves as business powerhouses. Geographically positioned to meet global demands for multinational corporations, the region’s lack of red tape has attracted many an entrepreneur and the best IT companies to set up shop, thereby now being home to some of the world’s most innovative startups.
With the proliferation of AI, the GCC has also pivoted to accommodate initiatives that encourage investing in and building AI-backed services. Here, we list 10 such initiatives. Read on to know more!
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HUMAIN is an AI agency that is supported by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), offering end-to-end services for all things AI. From AI strategy consulting to product development, HUMAIN also delivers full-scale infrastructure, thereby providing a completely integrated ecosystem for AI projects to be conceptualised, developed, launched and maintained.
Backed by the Saudi Arabian government, HUMAIN offers key focus towards building AI for sovereign-level demands, also featuring its very own Arabic LLM. The agency is also in progress to build data centres that can handle almost 2 gigawatts of capacity, by 2030.
NEOM is a city development project that aims to use AI as the foundational epicentre for all major operations pertaining to transportation, healthcare, and even education. The project consists of five urban regions, each offering a unique value proposition, from floating industrial complexes that also facilitate circular economies, to enterprise hubs that function purely on renewable energy.
With Saudi Arabia looking to gradually reduce dependence on its existing oil-producing economy, NEOM is a project with a mission to invite global enterprise players for creating a sustainable base in the Middle East – with AI-powered services that are contextually aligned to the needs of its residents.
Aramco, the largest oil producing corporation headquartered in Saudi Arabia, has partnered with NVIDIA to emulate the capabilities of quantum computers, for identifying new oil reserves and seismic data imaging. The corporation is already home to the Dammam-7 Supercomputer, but developing and implementing new quantum algorithms needs leverage for fast turnarounds.
For this, Aramco has partnered with NVIDIA to utilise their CUDA-Q platform, an open-source programming model to develop quantum algorithms. Through CUDA-Q, the partnership aims to run emulations of quantum computing hardware, helping teams gauge the viability of algorithms as well as outcomes. The Dammam-7 Supercomputer’s capabilities have already multiplied exponentially thanks to this, with 3D seismic fault detections now more accurate and clearer than ever.
Being OpenAI’s infrastructure project for training and deploying AI models, Stargate UAE is the first of its kind to launch outside of the United States. Located in Abu Dhabi, Stargate UAE is being made a reality in partnership with big tech giants Oracle, NVIDIA, Cisco and SoftBank, along with G42, which is a UAE government funded technology agency.
Stargate UAE is due to start with a capacity of 200 megawatts in 2026, expanding towards 1 gigawatt and 5 gigawatts in due course of time. Offering AI-driven cloud management and software development services for Dubai, Abu Dhabi and beyond, G42 is the Emirati partner for this large-scale project, facilitating development, construction and infrastructure management.
Fully funded by the UAE government and located in Abu Dhabi, MBZUAI offers an extensive range of courses, ranging from undergraduate programs and all the way to PhDs. Every course is focused on varying aspects of AI and its subset technologies, such as machine learning, natural language processing, and computer vision.
Noticing the upward trajectory of AI and its substantial influence on the world we live in today, MBZUAI, together with the UAE government has scaled to meet the global needs of AI-centric education for youths and established career professionals alike.
Additionally, the university also offers scholarship programs for eligible students.
Qai, Qatar’s national AI agency that is backed by the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) has partnered with Brookfield Asset Management to build and scale AI data centres in Qatar and other select markets. With an ever-growing demand for AI infrastructure, Qatar also aims to be in competitive lockstep with its GCC neighbours Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Part of the country’s 2030 National Vision goals, this joint venture from the Brookfield side is funded by its recently established Brookfield Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Fund.
Qatar’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) has launched the GovAI program, which accepts use cases from various government agencies in the country. Unlike most other AI projects, GovAI is unique in that it encourages government agencies to submit challenges that they know require solutions, which removes the guesswork that otherwise constitutes even the most sophisticated AI projects.
Use cases must meet strict criteria. Problems that can be fixed with easier or more affordable alternative non-AI solutions will not be accepted for development – further reinforcing the fact that MCIT’s GovAI program is strictly focused on only the strongest and most viable use cases for AI.
The Information and eGovernment Authority (iGA) of Bahrain has established the National Innovation Hub, which offers the environment to research and develop Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) of AI concepts. In terms of AI ethics, Bahrain successfully complies with the standards set forth by UNESCO’s RAM (Readiness Assessment Methodology).
The Bahrain Polytechnic University also offers numerous environments for technological innovation (AI and non AI), with many hackathons being focused on themes for encouraging students to ideate solutions for crucial use cases. Examples include the NASA Space Apps Challenge, H4TF (Health for the Future) and the Cyber Guards Hackathon, with keen emphasis on the calibre and viability of solutions.
Arab carrier Ooredoo in partnership with NVIDIA launched an AI data centre to enable the development of scalable AI solutions, including AI training for the Kuwaiti workforce. Supplied by H200 GPU units from NVIDIA, the AI data centre offers end-to-end support for AI development, also aligning with the country’s Vision 2035 digital strategy.
As part of its long-term strategy, Kuwait has been inclined towards reducing dependencies on foreign compute power, hence the partnership with NVIDIA and its investments towards its first ever sovereign data centre. Scalable compute power is now accessible for any use case, but key industries such as energy, healthcare and logistics remain of prime focus for AI transformation.
When it comes to AI, Oman seeks to offer a more environmentally friendly solution. In other words, the Sultanate is focused on powering its AI infrastructure with renewable sources of energy, while also establishing a circular economy for managing e-waste. As a result, the country is facilitating collaboration with its government, policymakers and decision making personnel from the energy industry to make its Green AI Alliance a reality, in addition to funds from investors.
The AI Designated Zone, on the other hand, encourages AI professionals and organisations locally as well as from other countries in the Middle East and Africa to establish operations here. All of this, to stimulate Oman as a hub for AI development and related services.
The geographic positioning of the GCC nations, its local production of oil and minimal bureaucracy have rendered it a prime region for conducting business operations, irrespective of industry or specialty. Being a business powerhouse for the rest of the world, the Middle East has now ramped up efforts to also establish itself as a hub for all things AI.
As GCC governments open their countries to investments and strategy for AI, software outsourcing companies both within the region and outside have been pivoting to stay in lockstep. For example, many AI and software development companies in Sri Lanka such as EFutures now offer nearshoring services for businesses based in the GCC, or operate regional offices all together.
While software companies in Sri Lanka continue to evolve their offshoring models to cater to swiftly advancing AI trends for clientele in the Middle East, it also simultaneously presents the opportunity to present their own AI-powered innovations – thereby contributing to the region’s highly active ecosystem of AI, smart cities, and renewable energy solutions.
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