LONDON: A data and artificial intelligence (AI) summit will be held in Saudi Arabia in October, it was announced on Friday. The Global AI Summit, under the patronage of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and organized by the Saudi Data & AI Authority (SDAIA), will take place on October 7-8 with the theme "AI for the Good of Humanity." SDAIA said the summit will be a virtual one due to the ongoing precautionary measures put in place by the Saudi government to tackle the spread of COVID-19. The summit will discuss how AI trends can assist the global recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, some inspirational insights about future requirements for regulators, investors, and companies in the field of AI as well as how AI will develop in the future. Among the participants will be many distinguished speakers and global experts from different countries, who will cover a range of topics divided into four sectors: 'Shaping the New Normal,' 'AI and Governments,' 'Governing AI' and'The Future of AI.' According to a SDAIA statement, the event will tackle global changes and their impact on the transformation of AI and review how AI technologies can be used to create a better future for all, in addition to highlighting the most prominent technical challenges facing the global AI community today and how to develop AI technologies safely and ethically in various applications that affect human life.

Yet another country has gone to release the potential of artificial intelligence to fuel its economic growth plans. One of the largest oil manufacturing nations, Saudi Arabia, has now formulated and launched a nation-wide policy on AI. The project has been signed with approval from King Salman and aims to add the market value of up to 500 billion riyals (US$133 billion) in the country's GDP by 2030. The policy formulation had begun last year when the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) was established through a royal decree in August 2019 to lead the charge of the nation's transformation into a data-driven economy. Besides, the body is working on implementing a cloud platform, intending to build one of the biggest cloud frameworks in the Middle East by connecting 83 data centres controlled by over 40 government bodies.

The writing is on the wall. Every major global governmental agency is warning of the imminent tipping point towards catastrophic climate change, even the world's largest oil company Saudi Aramco is now talking about reaching peak oil within the next 20 years, and the International Energy Agency projects that it will happen in more like 10. Solar and wind are cheaper than ever, and large-scale solar mega-projects are quickly becoming the norm. It makes sense, then, that even the supermajor oil companies are diversifying their portfolios and investing in their own demise--also known as the renewable energy sector. Way back in July, 2017 Oilprice reported that France's Total S.A. was "leading the charge on renewables". At the time, Total's website boasted: "For Total, contributing to the development of renewable energies is as much a strategic choice as an industrial responsibility. We are doing our part to diversify the global energy mix by investing in renewables, with a strategic focus on solar energy and bioenergies."

The writing is on the wall. Every major global governmental agency is warning of the imminent tipping point towards catastrophic climate change, even the world's largest oil company Saudi Aramco is now talking about reaching peak oil within the next 20 years, and the International Energy Agency projects that it will happen in more like 10. Solar and wind are cheaper than ever, and large-scale solar mega-projects are quickly becoming the norm. It makes sense, then, that even the supermajor oil companies are diversifying their portfolios and investing in their own demise--also known as the renewable energy sector. Way back in July, 2017 Oilprice reported that France's Total S.A. was "leading the charge on renewables". At the time, Total's website boasted: "For Total, contributing to the development of renewable energies is as much a strategic choice as an industrial responsibility. We are doing our part to diversify the global energy mix by investing in renewables, with a strategic focus on solar energy and bioenergies."

FogHorn, a Silicon Valley-based startup, is one of the early movers in the IIoT and edge computing market. The company has raised a total of $47.5M in funding over four rounds. The latest funding came from a Series B round in October 2017 by Intel Capital and Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures. Founded in 2014, FogHorn has been squarely focused on edge analytics and edge intelligence. According to the company, its solution enables high-performance edge processing, optimized analytics, and heterogeneous applications to be hosted as close as possible to the control systems and physical sensor infrastructure that pervade the industrial world.

Dara Khosrowshahi, the chief executive of Uber, has attempted to limit the damage after calling the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi "a mistake" similar to a fatal accident that occurred during tests of his company's self-driving car. Khashoggi, a Saudi national resident in the US, and a severe critic of the Saudi regime who wrote for the Washington Post, was murdered in Istanbul last year after visiting the Saudi Arabian consulate there. His body was dismembered and disposed of. His death has been described by Agnès Callamard, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, as a "deliberate, premeditated execution" that warrants further investigation into the responsibility of the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman. The prince is a key US ally close to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's son-in-law and chief adviser.

IQPC Middle East's second Artificial Intelligence Week was hosted at the Oberoi Hotel Dubai and organized with the official support of the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi. Inaugurated by Sheikha Maryam Al Qasimi, Government Relations and Protocol Specialist for Lead Ventures at The Office of Sheikh Sultan bin Abdullah Al Qasimi, and Sheikh Majid Al Mualla, Divisional Senior Vice President International Affairs at Emirates, the event saw participation from influential and leading organizations including the Prime Minister's Office, Dubai Healthcare City Authority – Regulation (DCHR), UAE's Ministry of Health and Prevention, Smart Dubai, ING, Commercial Bank of Dubai, Al Zahra Hospitals, Saudi Aramco, King Abdulaziz City of Science and Technology, and many more. Knowing the central role AI plays, the Department of Health -- Abu Dhabi (DoH), the regulator of the healthcare sector in the Emirate, has been the first entity in the MENA region to pursue and launch an artificial intelligence policy for the healthcare sector. Dr. Hamed Al Hashemi, Director, Strategy Division at Department of Health, Abu Dhabi said: "In utilizing tech-based solutions like AI we can build a future-proof healthcare system. These systems are capable of providing more efficient, safe and evidence-based quality of care while forging ahead with bringing new, innovative ways of healthcare services delivery."

Hudson Institute senior fellow Michael Pregent says he believes without a doubt that Iran was involved in the attacks on Saudi oil facilities. Saudi oil sites attacked on Saturday -- in a drone assault linked to Iran -- were seen to have sustained damage after satellite images released Sunday captured char marks and smoke billowing from the world's largest oil processing facility. The weekend attack ignited huge fires at Saudi Aramco's Abqaiq oil processing facility and interrupted about 5.7 million barrels of crude oil production -- over 5 percent of the world's daily supply. U.S. satellite images appeared to show approximately 17 points of impact on key infrastructure at the site after the attack. While Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels have since claimed responsibility for the attack, the U.S. has accused Iran of launching the assault.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday accused Iran of leading attacks on Saudi oil plants that cut the kingdom's output roughly in half, ruling out Yemeni involvement and denouncing Tehran for false diplomacy. Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi group claimed credit for Saturday's attacks on two plants at the heart of Saudi Arabia's oil industry, including the world's biggest petroleum processing facility. Pompeo, however, said on Twitter that there was no evidence the attacks came from Yemen. "Tehran is behind nearly 100 attacks on Saudi Arabia while Rouhani and Zarif pretend to engage in diplomacy," Pompeo said, referring to Iran's President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif. "Amid all the calls for de-escalation, Iran has now launched an unprecedented attack on the world's energy supply," he added.

Saudi authorities attempt to control a fire at an Aramco factory. The world's largest oil processing facility and a nearby oil field in Saudi Arabia were set ablaze early Saturday morning after reported drone attacks by Iranian-backed Yemeni rebels. The Interior Ministry was quoted by state-run media as saying the fires at the Abqaiq oil processing facility in Buqyaq and the nearby Khurais oil field operated by Saudi Aramco were "targeted by drones." It wasn't immediately clear if there were any injuries, nor what effect it would have on oil production in the kingdom. Smoke is seen following a fire at Aramco facility in the eastern city of Abqaiq, Saudi Arabia, September 14, 2019.