Artificial intelligence is the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, especially computer systems.
Yasir Al-Rumayyan is dreaming about artificial intelligence. The governor of Saudi Arabia’s $925 billion Public Investment Fund says the country is “fairly well positioned” to be an AI hub. Unlike some of the more outlandish ideas embraced by senior Saudis there’s a way to turn these visions into reality – but that depends on attracting the necessary brainpower, and the support of AI bigwigs like OpenAI’s Sam Altman and SoftBank Group’s Masayoshi Son.
Imagine Al-Rumayyan wanted to create an AI hub from scratch. He would need semiconductors, implying an ability to produce chips. He would also need data centres to store and process the huge amounts of information that go into AI large language models. Then there’s the intellectual property for the design of advanced chips, and the know-how that underpins the actual models themselves.
