King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia has joined forces with two Chinese universities to develop an Arabic-focused Artificial Intelligence (AI) system.

Birth of AceGPT

The Language Model (LLM), called AceGPT, was built upon Meta’s LlaMA2. It was developed by a Chinese-American professor at KAUST in collaboration with the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Shenzhen (CUHKSZ) and the Shenzhen Research Institute of Big Data (SRIBD).

AI Arabic Language Assistance

AceGPT aims to serve as an AI assistant for Arabic speakers, answering queries in the Arabic language, but it may not yield satisfactory results in other languages.

Caution & Responsibility

Developers have warned users to exercise caution when using AceGPT. This collaboration reflects Saudi Arabia’s commitment to becoming a regional leader in emerging technologies like artificial intelligence. Saudi Arabia has been actively pursuing partnerships and initiatives in this field to diversify its economy beyond oil.

In August, regulators in the United States requested companies like Nvidia and AMD to restrict semiconductor exports for advanced AI development to unspecified Middle Eastern countries, although these restrictions were later clarified by US authorities.

National Olympiad for Programming, AI

Saudi Arabia has been making significant strides in the field of technology, particularly in artificial intelligence (AI). The Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) in partnership with the Ministry of Education and the King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity (Mawhiba) has launched National Olympiad for Programming and Artificial Intelligence.

Conception of the Olympiad

The ability to understand and manipulate computer programming and artificial intelligence has become a sought-after skill. Recognizing this, the SDAIA, the Ministry of Education, and the Mawhiba Foundation have come together to launch the National Olympiad for Programming and Artificial Intelligence, dubbed “Smartest”.

This event aimed at involving 300,000 middle and high school students from various regions of the Kingdom. They came among three million students in these two stages of public education. The goal? To train these young minds in the areas of programming and artificial intelligence.