News/MENA
Saudi firm Unifonic becomes first to earn ISO 42001 AI certification
Unifonic, a Middle East-based customer engagement platform, has become one of the first companies in Saudi Arabia and the MENA region to earn ISO 42001 certification for responsible AI management systems. This achievement positions the company as a pioneer in AI governance while addressing growing concerns about AI regulatory compliance, with research showing that 65% of organizations fail to ensure proper AI compliance and 73% of leaders worry about AI risks. What you should know: ISO 42001 is an internationally recognized standard for Artificial Intelligence Management Systems that was introduced in December 2023. The certification requires organizations to integrate AI...
read Oct 10, 2025Young Arab filmmakers use AI and smartphones to bypass traditional media gatekeepers
Young Arab filmmakers are revolutionizing storytelling across the Middle East by using smartphones, free editing apps, and AI tools to bypass traditional media gatekeepers. At this year's Sharjah International Film Festival for Children and Youth, creators as young as 14 are producing documentaries and digital campaigns that reach global audiences, fundamentally changing who gets to tell stories in the region. The big picture: Mobile technology and AI have democratized filmmaking in the Arab world, enabling creators to produce professional-quality content without expensive equipment or institutional approval. 14-year-old Fajer Saeed Alyileili from Fujairah creates documentaries about pollution and scoliosis using only...
read Sep 25, 2025Microsoft cuts AI services to Israeli defense unit after West Bank surveillance findings
Microsoft has disabled cloud and AI services used by an Israeli defense unit after finding preliminary evidence supporting reports that the technology was being used for civilian surveillance in Gaza and the West Bank. The action follows an internal review triggered by Guardian reporting in August, marking a significant policy enforcement by the tech giant regarding the use of its services for mass surveillance activities. What happened: Microsoft's review found evidence supporting elements of the Guardian's reporting about Israel Defense Forces surveillance operations. The Guardian alleged that the IDF was using Microsoft's Azure cloud platform for collecting and storing data...
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Iranian students win top spots in AI competition at Turkish TEKNOFEST 2025
Iranian students captured first and second places in the inventions and innovative technologies category at TEKNOFEST 2025, demonstrating the country's growing prowess in robotics and artificial intelligence. The achievement at Turkey's premier technology festival signals Iran's emergence as a competitive force in global tech innovation, with young engineers successfully competing against teams from 56 countries. What you should know: TEKNOFEST 2025 brought together nearly 1,000 projects from around the world in Istanbul from September 17-21, positioning itself as the world's largest aviation, space, and technology festival. The Iranian team consisted of eight members: Kian Karbalei, Mehrtash Razgordani, Artin Islampanah, Seyyed...
read Sep 24, 2025When no does in fact mean yes: AI models fail to understand Persian ritual politeness
New research reveals that mainstream AI language models from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta fail to understand taarof—a Persian cultural practice of ritual politeness where "no" often means "yes"—correctly navigating these social situations only 34-42% of the time compared to 82% for native Persian speakers. This cultural blindness in AI systems could lead to significant misunderstandings in global business, diplomatic, and social contexts as these models increasingly facilitate cross-cultural communication. What you should know: The study, conducted by Nikta Gohari Sadr of Brock University along with researchers from Emory University, tested major AI models including GPT-4o, Claude 3.5 Haiku, Llama 3,...
read Sep 23, 2025TikTok AI suggests shopping items on…Gaza war footage
TikTok is tagging videos from Gaza with AI-powered product recommendations, matching items visible in war footage with shop listings. The algorithm has been suggesting clothing items like "Dubai Middle East Turkish Elegant Lace-Up Dress" on videos showing Palestinian women searching for family members amidst rubble, highlighting the platform's failure to consider appropriate contexts for its new shopping feature. How it works: TikTok's new AI tool automatically scans video content to identify objects and suggest similar products from its shop.• When users pause a video, the system displays a "Find Similar" pop-up with product recommendations that match visible items in the...
read Sep 22, 2025Castle built on sand: Nvidia and Abu Dhabi launch Middle East’s first AI robotics lab
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi's Technology Innovation Institute have launched the Middle East's first joint AI and robotics research lab, marking a significant milestone for the region's technological development. The collaboration establishes a dedicated hub for developing next-generation AI models, robotics platforms, and humanoid technologies that will accelerate innovation across multiple industries. What you should know: The TII-NVAITC Joint Lab combines Nvidia's accelerated computing platforms with TII's multidisciplinary research capabilities across AI, robotics, autonomous systems, and high-performance computing. This represents the first NVAITC lab established in the Middle East, positioning the region as a strategic hub for advanced AI and robotics...
read Sep 19, 2025ISIS weaponizes AI for terrorism with digital news anchors and bots
ISIS is increasingly exploiting artificial intelligence to enhance its propaganda operations and potentially plan attacks, marking a dangerous evolution in the terrorist group's digital capabilities. This development represents a significant shift from hypothetical concerns to active reality, with experts warning that AI tools could dramatically amplify the group's ability to recruit followers and coordinate operations globally. What you should know: ISIS has moved beyond basic AI experimentation to sophisticated applications that enhance both propaganda creation and operational planning. The group has deployed AI-generated news anchors to deliver propaganda content, including coverage of deadly attacks like the Moscow concert hall incident....
read Sep 18, 2025Massive Attack quits Spotify over CEO’s €600M military AI investment
Massive Attack has removed their entire music catalog from Spotify to protest CEO Daniel Ek's €600 million investment in Helsing, a military AI company that develops battlefield analysis software and military drones. The Bristol-based band becomes the first major-label artist to take this stance, citing a "moral and ethical burden" where fan money and artistic work ultimately fund what they describe as "lethal, dystopian technologies." What you should know: Ek's venture capital firm Prima Materia led Helsing's latest funding round in June, with the Spotify founder also serving as chairman of the defense tech company. Helsing's software uses AI to...
read Sep 17, 2025Israeli VC firm Glilot raises $500M for AI-cybersecurity startups
Glilot Capital, one of Israel's largest venture capital funds, has raised $500 million for two new early-stage funds targeting AI and cybersecurity startups. The successful fundraising from international investors, including U.S. and European pension funds, suggests minimal impact from geopolitical tensions surrounding Israel's actions in Gaza on its tech investment appeal. What you should know: The $500 million will be split between Glilot's fifth seed fund and a new early-stage investment vehicle called Glilot Plus. Each fund aims to invest in 12 AI and cybersecurity startups over the coming years, with half the funding going to new investments and half...
read Sep 10, 2025UAE debuts K2 Think, a low-cost AI reasoning model to rival global competitors
The United Arab Emirates has unveiled K2 Think, a new low-cost AI reasoning model developed through a partnership between Emirati investor G42 and an AI research university in Abu Dhabi. The model represents the UAE's latest effort to establish itself as a global AI leader while diversifying its economy beyond oil dependence. What you should know: K2 Think delivers competitive performance while being significantly smaller and more cost-effective than existing AI reasoning models. Developers claim the model performs "just as well" as larger alternatives while requiring a fraction of the computational resources. The project emerged from collaboration between G42, a...
read Sep 9, 2025UAE releases 32B-parameter AI model that matches OpenAI performance
The United Arab Emirates has released K2 Think, an open-source AI reasoning model that matches the performance of much larger systems from OpenAI and DeepSeek while using just 32 billion parameters compared to their 200+ billion. Developed by researchers at Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence in Abu Dhabi and backed by tech conglomerate G42, this represents one of the strongest indicators yet that the UAE's massive AI investments are yielding competitive results in the global race for AI supremacy. What you should know: K2 Think is specifically designed for advanced reasoning tasks rather than being a complete large...
read Sep 2, 2025Israeli VCs embrace AI tools while maintaining human-first investing
Israeli venture capital leaders are adapting their investment strategies to incorporate AI tools while maintaining that human judgment remains irreplaceable in venture capital decisions. A new survey from CTech, an Israeli technology publication, reveals how three prominent firms—Red Dot Capital Partners, HiCenter Ventures, and Blumberg Capital—are using AI to enhance their operations while emphasizing that successful AI investments still depend on human trust, commercial focus, and long-term defensibility. What they're saying: Industry leaders consistently emphasize that AI enhances but doesn't replace human decision-making in venture capital. "AI is already woven into our daily work … helping us process information faster,...
read Sep 1, 2025Israel’s AI identified 37K Palestinians for strikes with suspected militant scoring system
Israel has deployed artificial intelligence systems in Gaza that assign numerical scores to Palestinian civilians based on suspected militant affiliations, with one program identifying 37,000 potential targets in the war's early weeks. These AI-powered targeting systems, including programs called "Lavender" and "Where's Daddy," represent what experts describe as a live testing ground for military technologies that will likely be exported globally, raising concerns about the future proliferation of AI-enabled warfare and surveillance tools. The big picture: Israel has positioned itself as a leader in battlefield-tested AI weapons, with the current Gaza conflict serving as what the military called the "first...
read Aug 27, 2025Just Deserts: Micropolis Robotics expands to North Africa with exclusive UAE partnership
Micropolis Robotics, a developer of unmanned ground vehicles and AI-driven security solutions, has secured an exclusive distribution agreement with UAE-based Aerxio to expand across Egypt and North Africa. The partnership represents a significant milestone in Micropolis's international expansion strategy, targeting high-growth regional markets where autonomous security solutions can address critical infrastructure challenges including border protection. What you should know: The agreement grants Aerxio exclusive rights to distribute Micropolis's advanced robotics technologies throughout Egypt and the broader North African region. Aerxio brings established strategic relationships with companies across the target markets, providing local expertise for Micropolis's expansion. The partnership focuses on...
read Aug 19, 2025Medieval Egyptian Mamluks offer blueprint for modern AI alignment concerns
Where historical Egypt meets technology is a lot more than "Stargate"-like entertainment. Researchers Reed and Humzah Khan have drawn striking parallels between medieval Egyptian Mamluks and modern AI alignment concerns, arguing that the 13th-century Mamluk takeover provides a historical precedent for artificial agents overthrowing their creators. Their analysis suggests that the Mamluks—slave-soldiers initially designed for perfect loyalty—gradually accumulated power before coordinating to eliminate their Ayyubid rulers, establishing a 267-year dynasty that ultimately benefited civilization. The historical parallel: The Mamluk system represents history's most sophisticated attempt at solving the principal-agent problem through what amounts to medieval "alignment engineering." Starting in the...
read Aug 14, 2025Northern Data partners with Core42 to bring 10K GPUs to Europe
Northern Data, a German cloud computing company, has struck a major partnership with Core42, the cloud division of UAE-based artificial intelligence holding company G42, to dramatically expand AI computing capacity across Europe. The agreement grants Core42 access to up to 10,000 graphics processing units (GPUs) from Northern Data's Taiga Cloud platform, representing one of the largest AI infrastructure deals announced this year. This partnership reflects the growing global race to build "sovereign AI infrastructure"—computing resources that nations and regions can control independently rather than relying entirely on foreign cloud providers. For businesses, this means potentially faster, more reliable access to...
read Aug 11, 2025Saudi Arabia deploys OpenAI’s open-source models in sovereign data centers
Saudi Arabia's AI venture Humain and chipmaker Groq have deployed OpenAI's new open-source models—gpt-oss-120B and gpt-oss-20B—within Saudi Arabia's sovereign data centers. This marks a significant step in Saudi Arabia's push for AI sovereignty, ensuring compliance with local data regulations while providing high-speed AI inference capabilities to enterprises, government institutions, and developers without requiring data to leave the Kingdom. What you should know: The deployment brings cutting-edge AI capabilities directly to Saudi infrastructure with impressive performance metrics.• The gpt-oss-120B model operates at over 500 tokens per second, while the smaller gpt-oss-20B delivers over 1,000 tokens per second on Groq's specialized hardware.•...
read Aug 8, 2025UAE’s du launches first Arabic LLM for telecom operations
UAE telecommunications operator du has partnered with Microsoft, Nokia, Khalifa University, and the International Telecommunication Union to develop what it claims is the first Arabic-language large language model specifically designed for internal telecom operations. The model addresses the growing need for localized AI systems in strategic sectors while supporting the UAE's emphasis on developing sovereign AI infrastructure. What you should know: The Arabic LLM is designed to handle operational tasks with cultural and linguistic nuances specific to the UAE and broader region. The model supports real-time customer complaint handling, device issue diagnostics, and internal process optimization through AI-generated insights. Unlike...
read Aug 6, 2025Researchers hack Google Gemini through calendar invites to control smart homes
Security researchers have successfully hacked Google's Gemini AI through poisoned calendar invitations, allowing them to remotely control smart home devices including lights, shutters, and boilers in a Tel Aviv apartment. The demonstration represents what researchers believe is the first time a generative AI hack has caused real-world physical consequences, highlighting critical security vulnerabilities as AI systems become increasingly integrated with connected devices and autonomous systems. What you should know: The attack exploits indirect prompt injection vulnerabilities in Gemini through malicious instructions embedded in Google Calendar invites. When users ask Gemini to summarize their calendar events, the AI processes hidden commands...
read Jul 25, 2025Study abroad: UAE’s AI university draws interns from top US schools
The Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) in Abu Dhabi is attracting a growing number of US students, with one in four participants in its recent monthlong internship program coming from American universities. This trend signals intensifying global competition for AI talent as countries race to build their artificial intelligence capabilities and workforce pipelines. What you should know: MBZUAI's internship program has become a significant recruitment pipeline, drawing applications from top US computer science programs. Nearly 2,000 students applied for 57 internship slots—almost double the previous year's applications—from dozens of countries worldwide. Participants came from prestigious institutions including...
read Jul 23, 2025Abu Dhabi’s M42 uses AI and genetic data to predict disease in 800K citizens
Abu Dhabi's M42 healthcare company has created what may be the world's most comprehensive AI-driven healthcare system, with genetic data from over 800,000 of the UAE's 1.3 million citizens already sequenced to predict and prevent diseases before symptoms appear. This ambitious model demonstrates how artificial intelligence and genomic data can transform healthcare from reactive treatment to predictive prevention, offering a blueprint that M42 is now expanding across 26 countries worldwide. What you should know: M42 has digitized Abu Dhabi's entire healthcare system and uses AI to analyze genetic data for early disease detection and personalized treatments.• The company identified a...
read Jul 22, 2025Leaked messages show Anthropic CEO acknowledges $100B+ Middle East funding helps “dictators”
Leaked Slack messages reveal Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei acknowledging that accepting funding from Middle Eastern governments would benefit "dictators," despite his company's commitment to ethical AI principles. The revelations expose how even AI companies that have built their reputations on ethical practices are abandoning those values to secure the massive capital needed for AI infrastructure expansion. What you should know: Anthropic has long positioned itself as the ethical alternative to OpenAI, with its chatbot Claude guided by principles based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The company was founded by former OpenAI members with a stated commitment to advancing...
read Jul 18, 2025xAI explores Gulf data center partnerships for cheaper AI infrastructure
Elon Musk's xAI is in talks with data center companies in Saudi Arabia and the UAE to lease computing capacity, as the billionaire seeks to expand his AI startup in regions with cheaper energy and more favorable regulations. The move reflects the growing global competition for AI infrastructure, with Gulf nations positioning themselves as key players in the artificial intelligence race through strategic investments and partnerships. What you should know: xAI is exploring multiple partnerships across the Gulf region to support its AI operations and Grok chatbot development. In Saudi Arabia, xAI is considering two potential partners: Public Investment Fund-backed...
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