The Middle East Has Entered the AI Group Chat
Wired
MAY 15, 2025
The UAE and Saudi Arabia are investing billions in US AI infrastructure. The deals could help the US in the AI race against China.
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Zest Equity, a UAE-based startup digitizing private market deals, raises $3.8M seed funding
TechCrunch
OCTOBER 9, 2023
UAE-based Zest Equity, a startup digitizing private market dealings, has raised $3.8 million seed funding to build more tools for enabling fast and transparent transactions by ecosystem players while increasing their liquidity through secondary deals.
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TikTok’s beloved Dubai chocolate is breaking the pistachio supply chain
Fast Company Tech
APRIL 21, 2025
Instantly recognisable by its vibrant green filling, TikTokers flooded the platform with enthusiastic taste tests of the bar , which is sold exclusively in the UAE. This year, Iranian producers have exported 40% more nuts to the UAE in the six months leading to March than they did in the entire 12 months before.
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Ghana and UAE Launch $1 Billion Tech Hub
Medium Technology Section
MAY 30, 2025
Ghana is poised to become a regional leader in AI and emerging technologies through a landmark agreement with the UAE to launch the… Continue reading on Medium
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China’s Baidu could launch commercial self-driving taxi service in UAE: report
TechNode
FEBRUARY 13, 2025
Omar Sultan Al Olama, UAE Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Remote Work Applications, at the World Governments Summit in Dubai. The news comes on the heels of Tuesdays public conversation between Baidu chief executive Robin Li and H.E.
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UAE Pass: The Key to Accessing Government and Private Sector Services in the UAE
Medium Technology Section
MARCH 20, 2025
In today’s digital era, the UAE Pass has become more than just a convenience — it is a necessity for anyone living or doing business in… Continue reading on Medium
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Li Auto says it will push for “major overseas growth” this year
TechNode
MARCH 17, 2025
The Chinese EV maker said it established directly operated service centers in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last year, followed by the opening of its first overseas research and development center in Munich in January, TechNode reported.
TSMC and Samsung consider major chip manufacturing plants in UAE
TechNode
SEPTEMBER 23, 2024
TSMC and Samsung are considering building large-scale wafer fabs in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) over the next few years, a move that could boost AI investment and development in the Middle East, according to The Wall Street Journal. The proposed factories in the UAE could have a combined cost exceeding $100 billion, the report added. [
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Chinese EV maker Hozon moves into UAE market
TechNode
OCTOBER 30, 2023
The news comes months after rival BYDs compact crossover Atto 3 arrived in UAE via an alliance with local dealership Al-Futtaim in June. Geely-affiliated Zeekr signed sales agreements with partners in UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain last month. TechNode reporting , Caixin, in Chinese ]
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The UAE has successfully launched its first Mars mission
TechSpot
JULY 20, 2020
The mission to Mars, one of three scheduled this month, is leveraging a period when Earth and Mars are relatively close to each other. Hope will spend the next seven months traveling to our nearby neighbor and if all goes according to plan, it should get there by February 2021.
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China’s JD.com pilots cross-border platform Joybuy in London as it takes on Temu in UK’s $163 billion e-commerce market
TechNode
APRIL 11, 2025
As of mid-2024, the company operates nearly 100 bonded, direct-mail, and overseas warehouses globally, covering nearly 1 million square meters across key markets including the US, UK, Germany, France, Vietnam, and the UAE.
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Omniful, a supply chain and e-commerce enablement startup, emerges from stealth with $5.85M
TechCrunch
DECEMBER 5, 2023
The UAE and Kingdom of […] © 2023 TechCrunch. Supply chain and e-commerce enablement startup, Omniful, has today emerged from stealth with $5.85 All rights reserved. For personal use only.
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Watch this daredevil ad shot by a drone from way up
Digital Trends
AUGUST 11, 2021
UAE airline Emirates used a drone to shoot an extraordinary video that it claims is "one of the highest ads ever filmed.".
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BEYOND Expo 2025: NIP Group CEO Mario Ho sees a shift from esports’ “winter” to an era of transformation
TechNode
MAY 29, 2025
Countries such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE are heavily investing in esports despite global economic headwinds. Betting on the Middle East: esports’ new frontier NIP is aggressively expanding into the Middle East, a region Ho says is rich in capital and government support.
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The RTX 3080 Ti is allegedly available to buy in the UAE - for $3,500
TechSpot
MAY 5, 2021
A redditor posted what’s claimed to be an image of MSI’s card, which appeared in another photograph last week that purportedly shows it in a distribution center. It does seem strange that someone would be selling the RTX 3080 Ti weeks before it launches, especially as there are no public.
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Zenda gets $9.4M to streamline school fee payment and management
TechCrunch
APRIL 24, 2022
Zenda , a UAE-based startup looking to change how parents pay school bills, and the way educational institutions manage fee collection, is eyeing Africa as its next frontier for growth. The UAE itself is a $8+ billion market for private education fees and they are already well poised to capture leadership.”.
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Dubai-based accounting and financial compliance startup, Wafeq, raises $3M
TechCrunch
JANUARY 24, 2023
The United Arabs Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia became the first member states to adopt the treaty in 2018, and its implementation meant that for the first time businesses in these territories were required to file VAT returns periodically. Wafeq is a ratified provider in Saudi Arabia, and the UAE (e-invoicing is not mandatory there yet).
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The First AI Center of Excellence Announced in the United Arab Emirates – Powered by DataRobot
DataRobot
AUGUST 1, 2022
As Senior Technical Analyst at GlobalData, Beatriz Vale explains “It will be exciting to follow the evolution of the new AI CoE, in the stimulating environment offered by Hub71, and within the context of the fast-growing market of Abu Dhabi and the UAE, the second largest economy in the Arab world.”
SoftBank-backed Indian insurance platform Policybazaar raises $75 million
TechCrunch
MARCH 17, 2021
Policybazaar has raised $75 million as the Indian online insurance platform looks to expand its presence in UAE and Middle East. The startup, which is working on an initial public offering slated for next year , said it will use the fresh investment to expand its presence across the UAE and Middle East regions.
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OpenAI wants to develop its own AI processors, looks to UAE for funds
TechSpot
MARCH 17, 2024
OpenAI may be getting closer to securing the funds it needs to launch its own semiconductor business, aiming to reduce its dependence on Nvidia for AI processors. According to a report in the Financial Times, the company is in talks with the state-funded Abu Dhabi investment company MGX for backing. Read Entire Article
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Pluto lands funding from corporate spend giants to build ‘Ramp for the Middle East’
TechCrunch
FEBRUARY 3, 2022
That has accelerated card acceptance –– with 90% card acceptance rates in the UAE and Saudi Arabia by some estimates — in the region. It is gearing up to formally launch in the UAE and Saudi Arabia in the coming weeks. and the UAE. Egypt’s Paymob closes $18.5M Series A to expand payments services across MENA.
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Saudi Arabia and UAE invest in thousands of Nvidia chips, aiming to become global AI powerhouses
TechSpot
AUGUST 15, 2023
The Financial Times reports that Saudi Arabia has bought at least 3,000 Nvidia H100 GPUs, which Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang calls the first chip designed for generative AI. With its 14,592 CUDA cores, 80GB of HBM3 capacity, and 5,120-bit memory bus, it's priced at a massive $40,000. Read Entire Article
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Opontia gets $42M to buy more e-commerce brands in Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa
TechCrunch
DECEMBER 8, 2021
Though it launched with eyes on the Middle East and Africa, the company has only made efforts in some parts of the former (the UAE and Saudi Arabia) while making significant headway into Central and Eastern Europe, particularly Turkey and Poland. TechCrunch gathered that Opontia has somewhat switched focus on its target market.
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OpenAI Confirms UAE Stargate Data Center
The Information
MAY 22, 2025
OpenAI said it will build a data center in the United Arab Emirates through its Stargate joint venture with SoftBank, confirming The Informations earlier reporting. The company said Thursday tha 100 39021 0 39021 0 0 347k 0 --:--:-- --:--:-- --:--:-- 349k t the initiative is intended to help interested governments build sovereign AI capability in.
Nomod raises $3.4M seed to allow merchants accept payments without hardware
TechCrunch
NOVEMBER 15, 2021
This suite of services is essential in the primary markets in which Nomod is aiming to build a significant merchant base, like Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bangladesh. In the UAE, it can take nearly six months to set up a business bank account. and the UAE in their local currencies — dollars, pounds and dirhams, respectively.
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First-ever interplanetary mission by Arab states blasts off
Digital Trends
JULY 19, 2020
Watch the rocket carrying the UAE's Mars-bound spacecraft blast off.
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Invygo raises $10M to make long-term car subscription a breeze
TechCrunch
OCTOBER 31, 2022
Invygo, a startup operating in UAE and Saudi Arabia, has raised $10 million in its Series A funding led by MEVP as it works to scale its car rental service in the region. Roughly 200 cars are available for subscription in Saudi Arabia and 100 in UAE on the platform on a typical day. million to date. Growing subscribe-to-own service.
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Seeing the United Arab Emirates
Beneblog: Technology Meets Society
NOVEMBER 19, 2008
The UAE are in an incredible state of construction: I don't know of many places on earth (other than China) where so much has been built so fast. I spent the day before the council driving around the United Arab Emirates and a bit in Oman.
Amazon’s Prime Day kicks off on October 13th
The Verge
SEPTEMBER 27, 2020
Prime Day will start at 3AM ET on Tuesday, October 13 and will be held in the US, UK UAE, Spain, Singapore, Netherlands, Mexico, Luxembourg, Japan, Italy, Germany, France, China, Canada, Belgium, Austria, Australia, Turkey, and Brazil. We’ll be covering all the best Prime Day deals right here at The Verge.
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YC-backed Zywa, a neobank for Gen Z, raises $3M to expand across MENA
TechCrunch
AUGUST 23, 2022
Gen Zs in the UAE spend about AED 5B+ every year, and still rely on cash or their parents’ cards despite having options like supplementary cards issued by their parents’ banks. The app brings convenience to parents too as it enables them to send money to their children, and to monitor their spending and saving habits.
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Dozens of Al Jazeera journalists targeted in apparent iOS spyware attack
The Verge
DECEMBER 21, 2020
Citizen Lab says it has “medium confidence” that one is working on behalf of the UAE government and another for the Saudi government. The attacks reportedly used Pegasus technology provided by the Israeli firm NSO Group, and are thought to be the work of four operators.
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Samsung launches EKG support for latest Galaxy Watch devices in 31 more countries
The Verge
FEBRUARY 22, 2021
The full list of countries includes Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Chile, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UAE, and the UK.
CCTV, Biometric & Access Control Experts UAE
Medium Technology Section
MARCH 7, 2025
In today’s fast-paced world, security has become a top priority for businesses and residential properties alike. With advancements in… Continue reading on Medium
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FlapKap provides revenue-based financing to e-commerce brands in MENA, gets $3.6M seed funding
TechCrunch
OCTOBER 12, 2022
Recent research suggests that the e-commerce market in Saudi Arabia, UAE and Egypt account for a combined $21.4 The revenue-based financing company for e-commerce platforms, which claims to be growing 300% quarter over quarter, also mentioned that it has partnered with tens of clients from Egypt and UAE in six months.
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Microsoft’s Windows 11 launch event is a ‘6D musical experience’ with a free NFT
The Verge
OCTOBER 5, 2021
pic.twitter.com/ANr3kPpX6j — Microsoft UAE (@MicrosoftUAE) October 4, 2021. Bringing to you the launch of #Windows11 straight from Burj Khalifa tonight! Stay tuned while we reveal the latest features and updates available to you from Windows.
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An online propaganda campaign used AI-generated headshots to create fake journalists
The Verge
JULY 7, 2020
They argue for more sanctions against Iran, praise certain Gulf states like the United Arab Emirates, and criticize Qatar (currently the subject of a diplomatic and economic embargo from the UAE and other states in the Middle East because of the country’s alleged support for terrorism).
Microsoft president sounds alarm on ‘ongoing’ SolarWinds hack, identifies 40 more precise targets
The Verge
DECEMBER 17, 2020
Approximately 80 percent of those customers are located in the US, but Microsoft also identified victims in Canada, Mexico, Belgium, Spain, the UK, Israel, and the UAE. It’s certain that the number and location of victims will keep growing,” Smith said. Investigations into the hack are ongoing.
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