Saudi deputy foreign minister meets Chad’s president

RIYADH: The Global Symposium for Regulators opens in Riyadh next week, bringing together delegates from more than 190 countries to discuss the future of digital regulation.

With the theme “Regulation for Sustainable Digital Development,” the event is being hosted by Saudi Arabia’s Communications, Space and Technology Commission with the UN International Telecommunication Union. It will address topics including artificial intelligence, sixth-generation networks and the integration of terrestrial and non-terrestrial systems. 

Officials say the symposium marks a milestone in shaping global digital governance, stressing the role of regulators in driving innovation, protecting consumers, and closing the digital divide while advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals. 

It comes as Saudi Arabia aims to become a global digital leader following its appointment to the UN’s ITU digital regulation network board. Internet use in the Kingdom reached 99 percent in 2024.

GSR25 will close with a resolution outlining regulatory principles for the post-digital era, based on participants’ insights and session recommendations.

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia launched HUMAIN Chat, an Arabic artificial-intelligence app, in the Kingdom on Monday, which the company says is trained on the world’s largest datasets of the language.

The product is HUMAIN’s first application in its AI suite and is powered by an Arabic model called ALLAM 34B, which was created in Saudi Arabia by local developers, the company stated in a press release.

HUMAIN, an AI company wholly owned by the Public Investment Fund, was launched in May by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and aims to develop Arabic large-language models, and position the Kingdom as a global hub for technology innovation.

The app is available on iOS and Android devices as well as through a web browser, and will be rolled out soon to other Arabic-speaking countries, the company stated.

HUMAIN’s CEO Tareq Amin said: “The launch of HUMAIN Chat is a point of pride for Saudi Arabia, marking a historic milestone in our mission to build sovereign AI that is both technically advanced and culturally authentic.”

ALLAM, which was built by a team of over 120 AI specialists, including 35 researchers with doctorates, has been designed to serve the 350 million people who speak Arabic across the globe.

The model is culturally mindful, capable of dialect comprehension, and able to understand the different types of Arabic spoken across the region, from classical to more locale-specific forms of the language, the company stated.

The model, which is also available in English, is trained on one of the largest Arabic datasets ever collected, then refined with input from over 600 domain experts and 250 evaluators.

The result is unmatched fluency in Arabic and deep alignment with Islamic, Middle Eastern, and cultural nuance, the company stated.

“We are proving that globally competitive technologies can be rooted in our own language, infrastructure, and values — built in Saudi Arabia by Saudi talent,” Amin said.

“This is not the end state, but the beginning of a journey to serve the Kingdom, the Arabic-speaking world, and beyond. The potential is limitless, accelerating innovation and progress across every dimension of commercial and social life.”

If you are in Saudi Arabia, you can access HUMAIN Chat at https://chat.humain.ai/.