Jensen Huang, founder and chief executive of Nvidia, declared that AI has hit a tipping point as the chip designer reported record sales on Tuesday. “Demand is surging worldwide across companies, industries and nations,” he said.
Mr Huang has advocated an approach wherein each country develops its own AI infrastructure as part of a strategy that ensures that data can only be extracted locally. At the World Governments Summit in Dubai last week, he described this as AI sovereignty.
You could argue that this narrative suits his business ambitions to sell as many microchips that power AI as possible. He almost said as much when he highlighted that “Nvidia GPU is the only platform that’s available to everybody on any platform”.
It may be a great sales pitch, but his perspective might also be vital for the ambitions of Gulf economies such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia, which are keen to be at the forefront of this technology.
PwC agrees with Mr Huang about this being a watershed, with the development of generative AI, in particular, expected to transform businesses and society. As a result of this expectation, at least according to PwC, the GCC countries are investing in research and development initiatives focused on advancing AI. “Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar are leading the drive towards new technologies that align with the objectives of their respective transformation agendas,” it has said.
Much will need to be worked out, of course, especially related to the legal and intellectual property landscapes
It cited examples such as the UAE’s G42, which is working with OpenAI to deliver AI solutions and has been developing the world’s first high-quality Arabic large language model. Also, the Technology Innovation Institute in Abu Dhabi is investing heavily into its own Falcon LLM. In Saudi Arabia, a GenAI accelerator has been created to invest in early-stage GenAI start-ups, and Invest Qatar has partnered with Microsoft Azure to develop an AI assistant called Ai.SHA.
PwC’s analysis forecasts that various sectors in the region ranging from health care to finance to media and technology sectors will be most affected by AI in the coming year. This includes workforce transformation through training people on how to use GenAI tech and further automation. Imagine employees being “significantly augmented, particularly in areas requiring creativity and data analysis”, as PwC says. Also, in customer service, “GenAI can revolutionise the sector by providing automated, yet personalised assistance”.
Much will need to be worked out, of course, especially related to the legal and intellectual property landscapes. Governments and regulators will need to be nimble and responsive to new risks that emerge as well as nurture opportunities. How consumer data is protected and used is of paramount concern.
For now, this region’s spending on AI is relatively small in global terms but this will change. IDC, the global market intelligence firm, has forecast that AI spending in Middle East and Africa will increase at a compound annual growth rate of 29.7 per cent over the 2022-2026 period, reaching $6.4 billion – the fastest rate of growth in the world. OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman is reportedly seeking between $5 trillion to $7 trillion for AI chip manufacturing. The funding seeks to address the scarcity of graphics processing units.
However, there is an interesting parallel to be drawn from another industry, that of defence, which offers lessons and perspectives that could benefit the development of AI in the Gulf.
According to Strategy&, Gulf countries spend more than $130 billion each year on defence, with a little less than a third of that on procurement and services. At about 7.9 per cent of global spending, the GCC accounts for more than the budgets of the UK, France and Italy combined. But also – according to Deloitte – the historic dependence on defence imports with “black box” technology has meant that GCC countries do not hold the intellectual property behind them.
The consequences of this are instructive for any future investment in AI and how to ensure that the same doesn’t occur – that is, restrictions in the ability to develop and exploit knowledge locally and to potentially commercialise to other parts of the world.
The UAE, for example, has in recent years built a track record for locally manufactured defence equipment. Pushing this ambition into AI would act as a catalyst for advancement across the economy. For instance, could Gulf countries use their investments in AI to put them down a path where they design their own chips for AI?
To ensure that there is a virtuous circle to deliver on such ambitions, perhaps it would be worth exploring if some aspects of the offset fund concept – where foreign defence companies invest locally – could be replicated for AI.
A successful Gulf model for this new era could be the standard bearer for the West. In the future, they might even be importing AI-related tech as easily as they buy oil and gas from this region.
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Uefa Champions League, last-16, second leg (first-leg scores in brackets):
PSG (2) v Manchester United (0)
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
EPL's youngest
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Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
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Greatest Royal Rumble results
John Cena pinned Triple H in a singles match
Cedric Alexander retained the WWE Cruiserweight title against Kalisto
Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt win the Raw Tag Team titles against Cesaro and Sheamus
Jeff Hardy retained the United States title against Jinder Mahal
Bludgeon Brothers retain the SmackDown Tag Team titles against the Usos
Seth Rollins retains the Intercontinental title against The Miz, Finn Balor and Samoa Joe
AJ Styles remains WWE World Heavyweight champion after he and Shinsuke Nakamura are both counted out
The Undertaker beats Rusev in a casket match
Brock Lesnar retains the WWE Universal title against Roman Reigns in a steel cage match
Braun Strowman won the 50-man Royal Rumble by eliminating Big Cass last
Key changes
Commission caps
For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:
• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.
• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.
• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.
Disclosure
Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.
“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”
Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.
Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.
“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.
Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.
How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
- Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
- Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
- Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
Veil (Object Lessons)
Rafia Zakaria
Bloomsbury Academic
if you go
The flights
Etihad, Emirates and Singapore Airlines fly direct from the UAE to Singapore from Dh2,265 return including taxes. The flight takes about 7 hours.
The hotel
Rooms at the M Social Singapore cost from SG $179 (Dh488) per night including taxes.
The tour
Makan Makan Walking group tours costs from SG $90 (Dh245) per person for about three hours. Tailor-made tours can be arranged. For details go to www.woknstroll.com.sg
The specs: 2018 Honda City
Price, base: From Dh57,000
Engine: 1.5L, in-line four-cylinder
Transmission: Continuously variable transmission
Power: 118hp @ 6,600rpm
Torque: 146Nm @ 4,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 5.8L / 100km
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