The Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia and Google Cloud have announced a strategic partnership to establish a new global artificial intelligence (AI) hub near Dammam in the Eastern Province. The partnership, unveiled at the 8th Edition of the Future Investment Initiative (FII8), positions Saudi Arabia as a leading destination for AI innovation, catering to both local and global enterprises and startups. This AI hub aims to enhance the Saudi workforce by implementing AI programs for millions of students and professionals, aligning with the national goal of increasing the information and communication technology (ICT) sector by 50%. The collaboration will allow customers to leverage Google Cloud's advanced technology to drive growth across various industries and improve the delivery of AI applications. Businesses and end consumers can expect improved quality and faster access to AI applications and data services. The partnership is contingent upon obtaining regulatory approvals and will focus on joint research initiatives for Arabic language models and AI applications tailored to the Saudi market. This endeavor will be supported by Google Cloud's investment in custom silicon, incorporating state-of-the-art tensor processing units (TPUs) and graphics processing units (GPUs), along with the Vertex AI platform, designed for developing generative AI applications. Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Governor of PIF, expressed enthusiasm for the new AI hub, stating, "This partnership underscores PIF's commitment to creating an AI-friendly environment through investments in human capital and technology. Saudi Arabia is an ideal location for global tech partners, as PIF combines sector expertise with a long-term investment approach." Ruth Porat, President and Chief Investment Officer of Alphabet and Google, highlighted the potential impact of the partnership, stating, "This strategic collaboration will accelerate AI adoption in the local language across industries such as healthcare, retail, and financial services. We aim to create highly-skilled jobs for Saudis and opportunities for global businesses through cloud adoption." PIF prioritizes investments in the technology sector, recognizing it as a key driver of growth across other economic areas, including entertainment, healthcare, and logistics. The partnership will also focus on enhancing Arabic-language capabilities in Google's generative AI model family, Gemini, by integrating additional Arabic datasets. Research conducted by Access Partnership estimates that the new AI hub could contribute up to $71 billion to Saudi Arabia's GDP over the next eight years, generating thousands of skilled jobs as the economy embraces AI technologies. This initiative builds upon Google Cloud's existing presence in Saudi Arabia, including the Dammam cloud region, which was launched last year as part of Google Cloud's global network of 40 regions. — SG
