Saudi Arabia Plans $40 Billion Push Into Artificial Intelligence

According to the New York Times, Saudi Arabia's government plans to create a fund of about $40 billion to invest in artificial intelligence. Reuters reports: Representatives of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) have discussed a potential partnership with U.S. venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and other financiers in recent weeks, the newspaper reported. Andreessen Horowitz and PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan have discussed the possibility of the U.S. firm setting up an office in Riyadh, according to the report. PIF officials also discussed what role Andreessen Horowitz could play and how such a fund would work, the newspaper said, adding the plans could still change. Other venture capitalists may participate in kingdom's artificial intelligence fund, which is expected to commence in the second half of 2024, the newspaper said.

Saudi representatives have indicated to potential partners that the country is interested in supporting a variety of tech start-ups associated with artificial intelligence, including chip makers and large-scale data centers, the report added. Last month, PIF's Al-Rumayyan pitched the kingdom as a prospective hub for artificial intelligence activity outside U.S., citing its energy resources and funding capacity. Al-Rumayyan had said the kingdom had the "political will" to make artificial intelligence projects happen and ample funds it could deploy to nurture the technology's development.

That's nice.

[Petersko]

Throw it on the stack of Hail Mary passes they've attempted in the name of diversification.

Re:

[Seven Spirals]

They also want to build some ridiculous linear planned city for a zillion dollars. You're right. They've tried all kinds of stuff. However, they are hella nervous because they around 38M residents and something like 15M of them are on some form of public assistance. If oil was to start running lower or lost a lot of value, that level of public assistance would be impossible and they'd likely experience some civil unrest. You can see why they are rather nervous about diversification.

Re:That's nice.

[stephanruby]

It's not just a question of diversification.

With enough AI, you can control civil unrest at scale. You can listen to what people are saying in private conversations. You can punish people before they get a chance to organize and form a critical mass. AI is every dictator's wet dream!

Re:

[Seven Spirals]

Interesting thought and I think we are going to see how it plays out in reality, too. I'm a bit of a doubter on this, though. I think it's more likely that governments will try to use AI for just this purpose and find out that regular folks can fight back by making clever changes to their behavior and tools used to fight The Man. For example, cops who get lazy and depend on drones, robots, and cameras for everything don't know what to do when those tools can't solve the problem and they need to do regular p

Re:

[nevermindme]

With many miles of useless land except for solar panel farms and hydrogen storage, what is the long put in converting oil money into future proof income with the same hub technology. Everything else house of Saudi is rich young man flexes. Miles of glass towers are great, every one of the royal family can have a penthouse, but nobody is there after dark, because the bars are better in the micro nations with beer, wine and other fun things a 25 minute plane ride away.

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[zlives]

bars incoming in 3..2..

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[leonbev]

Well.... you can only buy so many Lamborghini's and professional golfers, as they are in limited supply. They need more toys to spend their oil money on... why not AI?

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[gweihir]

Yep. As soon as the oil-money is gone, they are back to herding camels in the dessert.

Don't need it

[backslashdot]

They don't need it, they have cheap labor from Africa and South Asia. Speaking of which, why can't we get asylum seekers to build impressive stuff for us in exchange for dormitory housing and food? Have you guys seen Saudi Arabia or Qatar/UAE recently? They are building crazy shit. Architectural shit that looks AI generated but is real. Imagine what the US would be like if we could import people and get cheap or free labor for decades.

Re:Don't need it

[quonset]

why can't we get asylum seekers to build impressive stuff for us in exchange for dormitory housing and food?

We already are. Who do you think builds golf courses and hotels and all those fancy developments out West where homes start at $800K and go up from there?

Imagine what the US would be like if we could import people and get cheap or free labor for decades.

We already do. Who do you think work at golf course and hotels? Or restaurants. Or picks the crops. Or slaughterhouses [nbcnews.com]. Or builds fancy developments out West where homes start at $800K and go up from there.

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[nevermindme]

Speak for yourself mr California. Around here the hotel maid is a good polish woman living with brothers family.

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[backslashdot]

Recent Polish immigrants? I've never heard of that. Do you live in the EU/UK or something?

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[echo123]

Recent Polish UK immigrants? What are you thinking? What was the reason after all the UK chose to ditch the EU and go their own way? (And how many of those UK voters have already died from old age?)

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[zlives]

you may have misspelled Ukraine, thanks to war

Re:

[nevermindme]

All empty glass towers and every member of the House of Saudi has the same generic glass penthouse, so bright you don't want to sit in it during the day. So much of that new consturction is empty. The kingdom has yet to discover something between glamping and the penthouse, they are sort of basic bitches with their tastes.

Re:

[Local ID10T]

Imagine what the US would be like if we could import people and get cheap or free labor for decades.

Blacks, Chinese, and Mexicans would like a word with you...

political will and ample funds

[Local ID10T]

Political will = Saudi Arabia is a benevolent dictatorship. Benevolent, as in most citizens live well and are relatively happy with their lot in life. Dictatorship, as in the King makes the rules or the Crown Prince does so in the King's name... as long as he remains in favor/succeeds -if he fails, he will be replaced by another as Crown Prince.

Ample funds = Oil money. Money on a scale most of us cannot comprehend. They have money that makes Apple look like a fruit-stand.

Re:

[nevermindme]

All the wealth is competing to do the same thing, impress the rest of the family. When everyone can direct billions at will we get Saudi or northern VA.

Re:

[larryjoe]

Political will = Saudi Arabia is a benevolent dictatorship. Benevolent, as in most citizens live well and are relatively happy with their lot in life. Dictatorship, as in the King makes the rules or the Crown Prince does so in the King's name... as long as he remains in favor/succeeds -if he fails, he will be replaced by another as Crown Prince.

All dictatorships are "benevolent." In both China and Saudi Arabia, citizens live well and are happy as long as they do "the right thing." Consider the fate of Jamal Khashoggi, who didn't do "the right thing." Also, in both countries, there are a lot of poor people who don't live well. In China, those poor are citizens, while in Saudi Arabia, they are imported non-citizens. In both countries, these poor people will not live so well, even if they do "the right thing."

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[penguinoid]

All dictatorships are "benevolent."

Like Pol Pot and Hitler?

This should be fun

[Miles_O'Toole]

So how are they planning torture and execute their pet AI when it logically determines that all religion is horse poo?

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

Remove the header files?

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[regyfrancis]

House of Saud looks similar as Zar Putin, Who likes to say 'Whoever owns the AI will own the world' Good luck owning something a thousand times smarter than you Zar Putin . Maybe not saying so much in that case.

Partnership

[PPH]

Saudi Arabia can provide the raw silicon. We'll do the rest.

Sounds good!

[gargalatas]

At first whatever they are trying to do sounds interesting. But then you realize the opportunistic approach they have on every aspect of their existence.