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  • Over 680 exceptional talents and researchers in technology sector obtain Saudi Premium Residency

    The list of holders of Premium Residency under the “Exceptional Competence Residency” product is topped by 5G technology specialists with 16 percent, followed by cloud computing specialists with 15 percent. These fields are the cornerstone of enhancing digital infrastructure, which enhances the Kingdom’s position as a leading country in adopting modern technologies. In the context of supporting innovation, Premium Residency was granted to experts in artificial intelligence and machine learning, who constituted 12 percent of the talents who were granted Premium Residency. These fields are among the priorities in the Kingdom, due to their role in contributing to the development of many sectors such as healthcare, education, and digital industries. Big data experts constitute 13 percent of the number of Premium Residency recipients, and it is one of the specializations that is witnessing rapid global growth in advanced economies that rely on the analysis of large and complex data.

  • Saudi Arabia moves to ban sale of tobacco in kiosks and grocery stores

    The Saudi Ministry of Municipalities and Housing has proposed a ban on the sale of tobacco products in kiosks, grocery stores and central markets. This is among the draft proposals, published by the ministry, on the public survey platform Istitlaa, seeking the opinions and viewpoints of the public before putting the draft into a final shape. The draft rules include several regulations with regard to the sale of tobacco products. According to this, the sale of tobacco products must comply with the standard specifications issued by the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA). Tobacco products must be 100 percent invisible to visitors at the commercial facility and must be placed inside closed drawers.

  • Saudi FM discusses developments in Palestine with PM Mohammad Mustafa

    Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan on Monday received a phone call from Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa. During the call, the two officials discussed developments in Palestine and efforts made in regard to them, Saudi Press Agency reported. Prince Faisal also received a phone call from his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar. They discussed regional developments and joint efforts with regard to them, SPA said.  Later on Monday, Prince Faisal received another phone call from his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi. The officials discussed the latest regional developments.

  • Records set for Arab artists at Sotheby’s debut Saudi Arabia auction

    Sotheby’s inaugural auction in Saudi Arabia — and the country’s first major international art and luxury auction — took place in Diriyah on Saturday with works by regional artists selling particularly well. Sotheby’s reported a full house for the “Origins” sale, which was held in a 250-seat outdoor amphitheater and featured participants from 45 countries. The sale totaled $17.28m with a sell-through rate of 67% by lot and 74% by value. Almost a third of the buyers were from Saudi Arabia.

  • Saudi Arabia launches ferocious state media attack on Netanyahu

    Saudi anger has been thrust into the open as Riyadh is expected to face pressure from US President Donald Trump to normalise relations with Israel. Like other Arab states, Riyadh has also been rattled by Trump’s insistence that Palestinians should be forced out of Gaza. Saudi Arabia was closing in on a three-way deal with the Biden administration before Hamas’s October 7 2023 attack. The kingdom would have agreed to formal diplomatic relations with Israel in return for a US defence pact and assistance with a nuclear programme.  The war in Gaza shook up those plans. Riyadh never took normalisation off the table, but has escalated its condemnation of Israel’s conduct of its war in Gaza and has hardened its position, insisting Israel would need to take irreversible steps towards a two-state solution. In September, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman went further, telling the consultative Shura Council that the kingdom would not recognise Israel without the establishment of an independent Palestinian state including Gaza and the West Bank, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

  • Saudi fintech RasMal closes $4.8 million pre-Series A

    RasMal, the first cap table management and investment governance platform in the MENA region, closes its Pre-Series A investment round led by Syndicate Element Holding Group (SHG), a leading investment firm, with a total value of $4.8 million (18 million SAR) during LEAP 2025 in Riyadh. This investment aims to introduce new tools and services to streamline fundraising processes and equity transfers, aligning with Saudi Vision 2030 to build a technology-driven financial ecosystem.

  • Google Cloud and Accenture launch Generative AI Center of Excellence in Saudi Arabia

    Google Cloud and Accenture are extending their pan-global Generative AI collaboration into the Saudi market, launching their latest Center of Excellence in the Kingdom’s capital city. First launched late 2023 in the US, the Generative AI Center of Excellence of Accenture and Google Cloud provides businesses with the industry expertise, technical knowledge, and product resources to build and scale applications using Google Cloud’s generative AI portfolio and accelerate time-to-value. Fast forward to today, and Accenture and Google Cloud have setup over a dozen such Generative AI Center of Excellences, including in New York, London, Bengaluru, and Sydney. Now, Saudi Arabia has been unveiled as the next location (and first in the Middle East), with the initiative set to provide a major boost to the Kingdom’s generative AI scene.

  • ‘Saudi is the best!’: Why are TikTok mumfluencers lauding desert megacity?

    "If you have children, Saudi Arabia is the best place," Aida McPherson, an Azerbaijani born in London, told her almost 60,000 followers as she filmed her daughter in traditional Saudi dress on a shopping trip. Around a dozen expat mothers have posted similar glowing accounts of the far-from-finished NEOM project in the desert championed by the kingdom's de-facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, despite concerns about continued rights violations in the country and alleged abuse of migrant building workers. But "influencer mums" -- often English-speaking and dressed in Western clothes -- rave about how "magnificent" everything is in NEOM, right down to the delicious food.

  • Salesforce pledges $500 million investments in Saudi Arabia

    Salesforce today announced plans to invest $500 million in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, building on its commitment to innovation and economic growth in the region. The investment also aims to spur workforce development through AI skilling and expand Salesforce's local partner ecosystem to support local businesses. The announcement, made today at LEAP 2025, follows the company's Davos pledge to expand its presence in Saudi Arabia with new regional headquarters in Riyadh. The increasing adoption of Agentforce, Salesforce's digital labor platform, by businesses in the region underscores the growing demand for AI-driven solutions and reinforces Salesforce's commitment to this technology in the Kingdom.

  • IBM watsonx to Support AI Initiative in Saudi Arabia: Stock to Gain?

    International Business Machines Corporation IBM recently announced that it has joined forces with Lenovo to support and accelerate the development of generative-AI infrastructure in Saudi Arabia. Lenovo, a global technology juggernaut, boasts an extensive portfolio of AI-enabled, AI-optimized products that include smartphones, PCs, workstations and infrastructures, like servers, storage, high-performance computing and software-defined infrastructure. IBM is the leader in the AI space and its robust portfolio of watsonx AI products expedites the impact of generative AI in critical workflows to boost productivity.