Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company, the Dubai telecom operator known as du, is working with major technology companies to help push generative artificial intelligence into mainstream consumer services, its chief executive has said.
While the company does not have any plans to develop its own ChatGPT-style platform, it is working with “top partners when it comes to AI”, including Microsoft, which backs ChatGPT marker OpenAI, and Amazon, in order to harness the “extremely powerful” emerging technology, Fahad Al Hassawi told The National.
“We believe a lot in partnerships to be able to provide the best final product and best technology to your customers, you need to always have a network of partners,” he said in an interview at the Gitex Global technology conference in Dubai on Monday.
Mr Al Hassawi did not provide specific details of these partnerships, but said du is “heavily engaged with all the top partners such as Microsoft and Amazon, when it comes to AI, in order to provide the best capabilities”.
A key factor that would make the use of generative AI more widespread is localisation, whether from a language point of view or specific use cases, Mr Al Hassawi said.
But in order for this to be successful, it would also require finding the right partners in order to maximise its reach, he added.
“How can we take something that is extremely powerful and localise it for the market completely by ourselves? … It's not the right way to do it,” Mr Al Hassawi said.
“You should find the right partners, use the effort to localise a service or capability to the market and to the customers that this will serve.”
The Middle East and the Arabic-speaking world present a huge opportunity for generative AI, the sensational technology made popular by ChatGPT and which has sparked a race among technology companies and personalities.
Arabic is one of the most widespread languages worldwide – spoken by more than 400 million people, according to WorldData. It is the official language in 22 countries and partly spoken in 11 others.
However, its online presence is minuscule, with only about 1 per cent of content in Arabic.
The UAE has made strides in the industry, having already unveiled major large language models – the underlying algorithm that powers generative AI – to stress its intentions of becoming a leader in the industry.
Abu Dhabi government-backed research centre Technology Innovation Institute launched its Falcon flagship LLM and its advanced iteration to boost generative artificial intelligence capabilities in the region.
Recently, Abu Dhabi AI company G42's unit Inception, the Mohammed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence and Silicon Valley-based Cerebras Systems launched Jais, an open-source bilingual Arabic-English model.
The TII, the research and applied research unit of Abu Dhabi’s Advanced Technology Research Council, last year launched Noor, which at the time was the world’s largest Arabic natural language processing.
The UAE is leading the GCC's “enthusiasm” towards the use of generative AI and its adoption of the emerging technology is standing out on the global stage, PwC Middle East said last week.
Generative AI is also leading a trend centred around creating new opportunities for innovation, but has also been called the most overhyped emerging technology in 2023, Gartner recently said.
But Mr Al Hassawi said generative AI is “very exciting” – and not overhyped.
“It is going to open a completely new dimension now to the use of AI. It's a matter now of finding all the right use cases to be able to utilise its capabilities,” he said.
“It is disruptive in a good way because traditional models require some disruption and using generative AI will be able to really disrupt and improve the way you provide services and your performance.”
AI also has capabilities to streamline operations in the telecom sector, from anticipating customer requirements to supporting bottom lines, Mr Al Hassawi said.
“There is a proactive approach that makes sure that our telecom network has less faults and less requirements for maintenance. We can also use AI to better serve customers, understand their needs and give them the right offers based on the information we have on them,” he said.
“Generative AI will even make it better … it will enable organisations across all industries to take their performance to the next level and become really cost effective and running their operations.”
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
SPECS
Toyota land Cruiser 2020 5.7L VXR
Engine: 5.7-litre V8
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 362hp
Torque: 530Nm
Price: Dh329,000 (base model 4.0L EXR Dh215,900)
Company%20profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Fasset%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2019%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Mohammad%20Raafi%20Hossain%2C%20Daniel%20Ahmed%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinTech%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInitial%20investment%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%242.45%20million%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2086%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Pre-series%20B%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Investcorp%2C%20Liberty%20City%20Ventures%2C%20Fatima%20Gobi%20Ventures%2C%20Primal%20Capital%2C%20Wealthwell%20Ventures%2C%20FHS%20Capital%2C%20VN2%20Capital%2C%20local%20family%20offices%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
Know your cyber adversaries
Cryptojacking: Compromises a device or network to mine cryptocurrencies without an organisation's knowledge.
Distributed denial-of-service: Floods systems, servers or networks with information, effectively blocking them.
Man-in-the-middle attack: Intercepts two-way communication to obtain information, spy on participants or alter the outcome.
Malware: Installs itself in a network when a user clicks on a compromised link or email attachment.
Phishing: Aims to secure personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.
Ransomware: Encrypts user data, denying access and demands a payment to decrypt it.
Spyware: Collects information without the user's knowledge, which is then passed on to bad actors.
Trojans: Create a backdoor into systems, which becomes a point of entry for an attack.
Viruses: Infect applications in a system and replicate themselves as they go, just like their biological counterparts.
Worms: Send copies of themselves to other users or contacts. They don't attack the system, but they overload it.
Zero-day exploit: Exploits a vulnerability in software before a fix is found.
Fifa%20World%20Cup%20Qatar%202022%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFirst%20match%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENovember%2020%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFinal%2016%20round%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDecember%203%20to%206%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EQuarter-finals%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDecember%209%20and%2010%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESemi-finals%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDecember%2013%20and%2014%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFinal%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDecember%2018%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
FFP EXPLAINED
What is Financial Fair Play?
Introduced in 2011 by Uefa, European football’s governing body, it demands that clubs live within their means. Chiefly, spend within their income and not make substantial losses.
What the rules dictate?
The second phase of its implementation limits losses to €30 million (Dh136m) over three seasons. Extra expenditure is permitted for investment in sustainable areas (youth academies, stadium development, etc). Money provided by owners is not viewed as income. Revenue from “related parties” to those owners is assessed by Uefa's “financial control body” to be sure it is a fair value, or in line with market prices.
What are the penalties?
There are a number of punishments, including fines, a loss of prize money or having to reduce squad size for European competition – as happened to PSG in 2014. There is even the threat of a competition ban, which could in theory lead to PSG’s suspension from the Uefa Champions League.
Sri Lanka-India Test series schedule
- 1st Test India won by 304 runs at Galle
- 2nd Test Thursday-Monday at Colombo
- 3rd Test August 12-16 at Pallekele
PSA DUBAI WORLD SERIES FINALS LINE-UP
Men’s:
Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY)
Ali Farag (EGY)
Simon Rosner (GER)
Tarek Momen (EGY)
Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL)
Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)
Nick Matthew (ENG)
Women's:
Nour El Sherbini (EGY)
Raneem El Welily (EGY)
Nour El Tayeb (EGY)
Laura Massaro (ENG)
Joelle King (NZE)
Camille Serme (FRA)
Nouran Gohar (EGY)
Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG)
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Rafael Nadal's record at the MWTC
2009 Finalist
2010 Champion
Jan 2011 Champion
Dec 2011 Semi-finalist
Dec 2012 Did not play
Dec 2013 Semi-finalist
2015 Semi-finalist
Jan 2016 Champion
Dec 2016 Champion
2017 Did not play
