In recent years, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been signalling its intent to become a major player in artificial intelligence, but now other Gulf countries are also getting serious about the technology.
AI could contribute $320 billion to the Middle East by 2030, about 2% of the total global benefits, according to a report from consultancy PwC. “There’s huge investments going into (AI) in the Middle East,” said Stephen Anderson, Middle East strategy and markets leader at PwC, speaking to CNN at last week’s Global AI Summit (GAIN) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“Here in the region, people were much more prepared to experiment and get involved with AI than maybe some other parts of the world,” he added.
One issue around the rapid growth of AI is that it can be hugely energy intensive, and it is increasingly becoming a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. Google reported that its 2023 emissions were nearly 50% more than in 2019, which it partly attributed to the energy demands of AI. Energy demand from AI, data centers and cryptocurrencies could double by 2026, according to the International Energy Agency.
But Anderson believes that Gulf countries, whose economies are heavily dependent on fossil fuels, are well placed to become “major players” in the technology, and have the potential to make it greener.
“We’re at the center of the world when it comes to energy – not just old energy, but particularly new energy,” he said. “This is the lowest-cost place anywhere in the world to produce solar energy. So the opportunity to combine sustainability and energy with the computer power that’s required from an AI perspective is really important.”
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