Finance Associated Press, February 23 (edited by Liu Rui).As the wave of artificial intelligence (AI) has swept the world, Saudi Arabia, a "local tyrant" in the Middle East, has also set ambitions to develop AI.
On Thursday, the head of Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth, Public Investment (PIF), said that with the country's ...Energy resources and capital advantagesto establish Saudi Arabia as a global AI hub outside of the United States.
AI technology accomplishes a wide variety of tasks by training algorithms using clusters of thousands of chips in large data centers. And as tech companies race to build increasingly sophisticated AI models and roll out biotechnically intelligent products to billions of users, the cost of electricity for these companies will skyrocket.
Speaking at an investment event sponsored by the sovereign wealth**, PIF President Yasir Al-Rumayyan said:
We are in a fairly strong position to be an AI hub outside of the United States....Artificial intelligence will consume a lot of energy, and we are a global leader in fossil fuel energy and renewable energyAs the world's largest oil producer, he saidSaudi Arabia has both the "political will" to promote AI projects and sufficient funding to promote the development of AI technology.
The development of generative AI technology requires a lot of data processing power, and the words of the president of PIF suggest that building data centers may be a core part of Saudi Arabia's national strategy.
Rumayyan said that PIF will spend more than 70 percent of its funds on domestic projects and investments, and its goal in the future is to use 20 to 25 percent of its funds for international investments. He also revealed that about 40% of the overseas investment is in the United States.
He also said that PIF will allocate about $40 billion to $50 billion a year and will increase the size of the allocation to $70 billion a year between 2025 and 2030.
Last November, Saudi Arabia announced plans to open a new artificial intelligence center in Riyadh. PricewaterhouseCoopers, a global consulting firm, estimated last year that the AI industry would contribute more than $135.2 billion to the Saudi economy by 2030, equivalent to 12.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).4%。