Riyadh to invest $20bn in AI

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia announced on Thursday it will invest $20 billion in artificial intelligence projects by 2030, as the oil-rich country seeks to diversify its economy amid slumping crude prices.

The kingdom, the Arab world’s biggest economy, launched an artificial intelligence strategy last month to attract investors as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s ambitious "Vision 2030" plan to wean the kingdom off oil.

"Saudi Arabia will invest $20 billion from now until 2030," said Abdullah al-Ghamdi, head of the Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority, which was established in 2019. "We aspire to have artificial intelligence as a component of an alternative economy through startups and innovation companies... and view artificial intelligence as a source of savings and additional income," he said during a G20 media briefing.