The Gulf’s advantage in the next AI chapter

Follow

The Gulf’s advantage in the next AI chapter

The Gulf’s advantage in the next AI chapter
(REUTERS Illustration Photo)
Short Url

The seismic shift in global technology markets carries a message the region already seems to understand. When DeepSeek demonstrated that it could build cutting-edge AI models for just $5.6 million using older hardware, it did not just blow a hole in Nvidia’s stock price — it validated the Gulf’s distinctive path to technological leadership.

Let me explain why investments like the $100 billion AI initiative of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund might be more prescient than people realize.

The conventional wisdom about AI has always hinged on scale — like a skyscraper reaching ever higher into the clouds, each level demanding more investment, more power, more computing resources. But DeepSeek’s breakthrough reveals a different architectural possibility entirely: AI development is more akin to a suspension bridge, where elegance of design trumps sheer mass of materials.

This paradigm shift mirrors the Gulf’s transformation of its financial sector. Just as Dubai and Abu Dhabi upended traditional notions of wealth management — proving that Wall Street was not the only path to sophisticated investment strategies — the region now stands poised to reimagine AI development. The same strategic thinking that turned hydrocarbon wealth into world-class sovereign wealth funds could now reshape the future of AI.

The whispered conversations in Davos’ hushed hotel lounges tell the same story: The era of computational brute force is ending. Success in AI no longer depends on who can build the biggest data centers or deploy the most powerful chips. Instead, victory will go to those who can execute most skilfully, who can find the smart solution hiding in plain sight.

Here is what is really happening: The Gulf states’ traditional strengths — political stability, capital efficiency and regulatory agility — are suddenly looking like decisive advantages in the AI race. While Western nations grapple with complex AI regulation and China faces export controls, the region can chart a middle path — maintaining high standards while moving quickly to implement new technologies.

Think about how this mirrors patterns in the region’s history. Just as Dubai transformed itself into a global business hub — not by competing head-on with established centers, but by creating unique advantages through regulatory innovation and strategic positioning — Saudi Arabia now has the opportunity to do the same with AI.

The Gulf states’ traditional strengths — political stability, capital efficiency and regulatory agility — are suddenly looking like decisive advantages in the AI race.

Adrian Monck

Consider this: While Silicon Valley was building AI models that required the equivalent of a small country’s power grid to run, DeepSeek proved you could achieve similar results with clever engineering and elegant execution. It is as if someone just proved you could build a Formula 1 car using last year’s parts and still make the podium.

The implications for Saudi Arabia’s strategy are profound. Its $100 billion initiative is not simply replicating Silicon Valley’s infrastructure-heavy model — it is creating innovation ecosystems, where computational efficiency matters more than raw power. It is exactly what South Korea did with semiconductors in the 1990s, focusing on clever design rather than industrial-scale manufacturing.

Three key priorities emerge. First, leverage regulatory flexibility to create AI development zones that attract global talent while maintaining high ethical standards. Success with economic cities provides a proven model.

Second, educate to innovate. In Abu Dhabi they are building the “Stanford of the Middle East,” positioning for global AI research leadership. The Gulf’s traditional role as a bridge between East and West takes on new significance in the AI education age.

Third, think ecosystem, not infrastructure. The most valuable part of AI investment will not be the hardware you buy — it will be the innovation networks you create.

The market’s dramatic reaction to DeepSeek’s breakthrough reveals another advantage: timing. As the industry shifts from a focus on scale to a focus on efficiency, the region can leapfrog the massive sunk costs of earlier infrastructure investments.

We are entering the “Age of AI Arbitrage,” where clever implementation beats computational might. It is a world of quantum innovation where technological advantage can materialize anywhere through sophisticated thinking rather than massive investment.

Sometimes the most important revolutions are not about new capabilities, but about fundamentally new ways of thinking about old problems. The Gulf states have already proven they can transform natural resources into lasting economic advantage. Now they have the chance to do it again — this time with artificial intelligence.

• Adrian Monck writes a weekly newsletter, Seven Things. He is senior adviser to the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence and a former managing director of WEF.

Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Arab News' point of view

Illinois landlord charged with 2023 hate crime and murder of Palestinian American boy set for trial

Illinois landlord charged with 2023 hate crime and murder of Palestinian American boy set for trial
Updated 5 min 40 sec ago
Follow

Illinois landlord charged with 2023 hate crime and murder of Palestinian American boy set for trial

Illinois landlord charged with 2023 hate crime and murder of Palestinian American boy set for trial

Joliet, Illinois: The trial of a suburban Chicago landlord accused of murder, attempted murder and a hate crime in a 2023 attack on a Palestinian American woman and her young son is set to start Tuesday.
Joseph Czuba, 73, is charged in the fatal stabbing of six-year-old Wadee Alfayoumi and the wounding of Hanan Shaheen on Oct. 14, 2023. Authorities said the family was targeted because of their Islamic faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas that erupted on Oct. 7, 2023 with a Hamas attack on southern Israel.
Opening statements start Tuesday morning in a trial that is expected to last about a week.
Czuba has pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder and other charges. His defense attorney, George Lenard, declined to comment before the end of the trial.
The attack on the family in Plainfield, nearly 40 miles (65 kilometers) southwest of Chicago, has renewed fears of anti-Muslim discrimination in the Chicago area’s large and established Palestinian community. The proceedings also come amid rising hostility against Muslims and Palestinians in the US since Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023.
“We firmly pray and hope that Mr. Czuba will be locked up for the rest of his life, so we can send a message that hate crimes against anyone on the basis of their religion and national origin are not tolerated,” Joe Milburn, a staff attorney for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told reporters Monday ahead of jury selection.
Prosecutors allege Czuba became increasing paranoid about the war because of listening to commentary on conservative talk radio. Shaheen told police that Czuba was upset over the war and attacked them after she had urged him to “pray for peace.”
The boy — whose name was initially spelled Wadea Al-Fayoume by authorities — was stabbed 26 times. Shaheen had more than a dozen stab wounds and it took her weeks to recover.
The murder charge in the indictment against Czuba describes the boy’s death as the result of “exceptionally brutal or heinous behavior.” Czuba remained detained with prosecutors arguing that Czuba was a danger to Shaheen and others.
Hundreds attended the boy’s janazah, or funeral service, where the boy was remembered as kind and into sports and Legos.
Separately, the father of the boy, who is divorced from Shaheen and did not live at the home, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit.


Pakistan begins providing licenses to VPN service providers

Pakistan begins providing licenses to VPN service providers
Updated 12 min 12 sec ago
Follow

Pakistan begins providing licenses to VPN service providers

Pakistan begins providing licenses to VPN service providers
  • Pakistan last year cracked down on VPN use to allegedly deter militants, others from spreading illegal content online
  • Pakistan’s telecom authority grants licenses to two VPN companies, says move will ensure data security and privacy

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s telecommunication authority this week announced it has started granting licenses to virtual private network (VPN) service providers, saying the move would enable businesses to utilize their services for “lawful purposes” and ensure data security. 

Pakistan’s government last year cracked down on the use of VPNs, with the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) asking businesses, freelancers and information technology (IT) companies to register their VPNs to ensure compliance with government regulations. It had warned that unregistered VPNs would be blocked. 

The government says its measures are meant to deter militants and other suspects who use VPNs to conceal their identities and spread “anti-state propaganda” and promote “blasphemous” or other illegal content online. Digital rights activists, however, say the government’s move against VPNs is an attempt to block vital tools that allow users to bypass restrictions in its bid to stifle criticism online. 

“The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has initiated the licensing of Virtual Private Network (VPN) service providers under the Class License for the provision of data services in Pakistan,” the PTA said in a statement on Monday. 

The authority said it has approved the applications of two companies and granted them licenses to provide VPN services in the country. 

“This initiative enables businesses to utilize VPNs for lawful purposes, ensuring data security, privacy, and regulatory compliance while promoting transparency,” the PTA said. 

It encouraged VPN service providers to apply online for the Class License on the authority’s official website. 

Pakistan saw a sharp rise in the use of VPNs last year when the government banned social media platform X after allegations of rigging in general elections surfaced in February 2024. Pakistan’s election commission and the caretaker government that organized the polls reject the allegations. 

Rights activists say the government’s measures to regulate the use of VPNs are part of a wave of digital crackdowns, including its move to implement a nationwide firewall last year. 

The government said the firewall intended to block malicious content, protect government networks from attacks, and allow it to identify IP addresses associated with what the government described as “anti-state propaganda” and terror attacks.

The Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA), the country’s top representative body for the IT sector, warned in November 2024 that Internet slowdowns and the restriction of VPN services could lead to financial losses and closures, and increase operational costs for the industry by up to $150 million annually.


Anti-US sentiment bubbling up in the West Bank bolsters demand for a local Coke-alternative

Anti-US sentiment bubbling up in the West Bank bolsters demand for a local Coke-alternative
Updated 31 min 34 sec ago
Follow

Anti-US sentiment bubbling up in the West Bank bolsters demand for a local Coke-alternative

Anti-US sentiment bubbling up in the West Bank bolsters demand for a local Coke-alternative
  • Chat Cola has seen its products explode in popularity across the occupied West Bank in the past year
  • Palestinian consumers, angry at America’s steadfast support for Israel, protested with their pockets

SALFIT, West Bank: Order a Coke to wash down some hummus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank these days and chances are the waiter will shake his head disapprovingly – or worse, mutter “shame, shame” in Arabic – before suggesting the popular local alternative: a can of Chat Cola.
Chat Cola – its red tin and sweeping white script bearing remarkable resemblance to the iconic American soft drink’s logo – has seen its products explode in popularity across the occupied West Bank in the past year as Palestinian consumers, angry at America’s steadfast support for Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza, protest with their pockets.
“No one wants to be caught drinking Coke,” said Mad Asaad, 21, a worker at the bakery-cafe chain Croissant House in the West Bank city of Ramallah, which stopped selling Coke after the war erupted. “Everyone drinks Chat now. It’s sending a message.”
Since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack triggered Israel’s devastating military campaign in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian-led boycott movement against companies perceived as supportive of Israel gained momentum across the Middle East, where the usual American corporate targets like McDonald’s, KFC and Starbucks saw sales slide last year.
Here in the West Bank, the boycott has shuttered two KFC branches in Ramallah. But the most noticeable expression of consumer outrage has been the sudden ubiquity of Chat Cola as shopkeepers relegate Coke cans to the bottom shelf – or pull them altogether.
“When people started to boycott, they became aware that Chat existed,” Fahed Arar, general manager of Chat Cola, said from the giant, red-painted factory, nestled in the hilly West Bank town of Salfit. “I’m proud to have created a product that matches that of a global company.”
With the “buy local” movement burgeoning during the war, Chat Cola said its sales in the West Bank surged more than 40 percent last year, compared to 2023.
While the companies said they had no available statistics on their command of the local market due to the difficulties of data collection in wartime, anecdotal evidence suggests Chat Cola is clawing at some of Coca-Cola’s market share.
“Chat used to be a specialty product, but from what we’ve seen, it dominates the market,” said Abdulqader Azeez Hassan, 25, the owner of a supermarket in Salfit that boasts fridges full of the fizzy drinks.
But workers at Coca-Cola’s franchise in the West Bank, the National Beverage Company, are all Palestinian, and a boycott affects them, too, said its general manager, Imad Hindi.
He declined to elaborate on the business impact of the boycott, suggesting it can’t be untangled from the effects of the West Bank’s economic free-fall and intensified Israeli security controls that have multiplied shipping times and costs for Palestinian companies during the war.
The Coca-Cola Company did not respond to a request for comment.
Whether or not the movement brings lasting consequences, it does reflect an upsurge of political consciousness, said Salah Hussein, head of the Ramallah Chamber of Commerce.
“It’s the first time we’ve ever seen a boycott to this extent,” Hussein said, noting how institutions like the prominent Birzeit University near Ramallah canceled their Coke orders. “After Oct. 7, everything changed. And after Trump, everything will continue to change.”
President Donald Trump’s call for the mass expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza, which he rephrased last week as a recommendation, has further inflamed anti-American sentiment around the region.
With orders pouring in not only from Lebanon and Yemen but also the United States and Europe, the company has its sights set on the international market, said PR manager Ahmad Hammad.
Hired to help Chat Cola cash in on combustible emotions created by the war, Hammad has rebranded what began in 2019 as a niche mom-and-pop operation.
“We had to take advantage of the opportunity,” he said of the company’s new “Palestinian taste” logo and national flag-hued merchandise.
In its scramble to satisfy demand, Chat Cola is opening a second production site in neighboring Jordan. It rolled out new candy-colored flavors, like blueberry, strawberry and green apple.
At the steamy plant in Salfit, recent college graduates in lab coats said that they took pains to produce a carbonated beverage that could sell on its taste, not just a customer’s sense of solidarity with the Palestinians.
“Quality has been a problem with local Palestinian products before,” said Hanna Al-Ahmad, 32, the head of quality control for Chat Cola, shouting to be heard over the whir of machines squirting caramel-colored elixir into scores of small cans that then whizzed down assembly lines. “If it’s not good quality, the boycott won’t stick.”
Chat Cola worked with chemists in France to produce the flavor, which is almost indistinguishable from Coke’s – just like its packaging. That’s the case for several flavors: Squint at Chat’s lemon-lime soda and you might mistake it for a can of Sprite.
In 2020, the Ramallah-based National Beverage Company sued Chat Cola for copyright infringement in Palestinian court, contending that Chat had imitated Coke’s designs for multiple drinks. The court ultimately sided with Chat Cola, determining there were enough subtle differences in the can designs that it didn’t violate copyright law.
In the Salfit warehouse, drivers loaded “family size” packages of soda into trucks bound not only for the West Bank but also for Tel Aviv, Haifa and other cities in Israel. Staffers said that Chat soda sales in Israel’s predominantly Arab cities jumped 25 percent last year. To broaden its appeal in Israel, Chat Cola secured kosher certification after a Jewish rabbi’s thorough inspection of the facility.
Still, critics of the Palestinians-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, or BDS, say that its main objective – to isolate Israel economically for its occupation of Palestinian lands – only exacerbates the conflict.
“BDS and similar actions drive communities apart, they don’t help to bring people together,” said Vlad Khaykin, the executive vice president of social impact and partnerships in North America for the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights organization. “The kind of rhetoric being embraced by the BDS movement to justify the boycott of Israel is really quite dangerous.”
While Chat Cola goes out of its way to avoid buying from Israel – sourcing ingredients and materials from France, Italy and Kuwait – it can’t avoid the circumstances of Israeli occupation, in which Israel dominates the Palestinian economy, controls borders, imports and more.
Deliveries of raw materials to Chat Cola’s West Bank factory get hit with a 35 percent import tax – half of which Israel collects on behalf of the Palestinians. The general manager, Arar, said his company’s success depends far more on Israeli bureaucratic goodwill than nationalist fervor.
For nearly a month last fall, Israeli authorities detained Chat’s aluminum shipments from Jordan at the Allenby Bridge Crossing, forcing part of the factory to shut down and costing the company tens of thousands of dollars.
Among the local buyers left in the lurch was Croissant House in Ramallah, where, on a recent afternoon, at least one thirsty customer, confronting a nearly empty refrigerator, slipped to the supermarket next-door for a can of Coke.
“It’s very frustrating,” said Asaad, the worker. “We want to be self-sufficient. But we’re not.”


Putin says Europe is needed in Ukraine talks, but suggests deal still distant

Putin says Europe is needed in Ukraine talks, but suggests deal still distant
Updated 25 February 2025
Follow

Putin says Europe is needed in Ukraine talks, but suggests deal still distant

Putin says Europe is needed in Ukraine talks, but suggests deal still distant
  • Ukraine and Kyiv’s European allies both objected to not having been invited to the initial round of talks on Ukraine

MOSCOW: Europe’s participation in Ukraine peace talks will be needed eventually but Moscow first wants to build trust with Washington, President Vladimir Putin said on Monday, while suggesting that a deal to end the conflict may still be far off.
As Ukraine marked the third anniversary on Monday of Russia’s invasion that has killed thousands of civilians and displaced millions, US President Donald Trump suggested the war could end within weeks. But he did not elaborate.
Putin told Russian state television that Trump was approaching the Russia-Ukraine conflict rationally and not emotionally, but gave the impression it might not end as soon as Trump would like.
Both his telephone conversation with Trump and recent talks between the United States and Russia in Riyadh touched on the issue of resolution of the conflict in Ukraine, Putin added.
“But it was not discussed in detail,” he said in an interview. “We only agreed that we would move toward this. And in this case, of course, we are not refusing the participation of European countries.”
Ukraine and Kyiv’s European allies both objected to not having been invited to the initial round of talks on Ukraine, held last week in Saudi Arabia by the United States and Russia.
Putin said Europe had “nothing with” the talks in Riyadh, as they were focused on establishing trust between Moscow and Washington, which he said was key.
“In order to resolve complex and rather acute issues, such as related to Ukraine, both Russia and the United States must take the first step,” Putin said.
“What does it consist of? This first step should be devoted to increasing the level of trust between the two states,” he added.
“But what do the Europeans have to do with it?”
The next few rounds of talks and high-level contacts will be devoted to building that trust, he said, but once the talks turn to reaching a settlement to the conflict, the presence of European partners will be logical.
“Their participation in the negotiating process is needed. We never rejected that, we held constant discussions with them.”
Michael Froman, president of the US Council on Foreign Relations thinktank, said it would be a mistake for a ceasefire deal to come at the cost of the transatlantic alliance.
“To secure peace through strength, it would be in Trump’s interest to work in tandem with our European partners, who will bear the burden of Ukraine’s financial and economic survival,” he wrote in a note last week.
Halving defence budgets
Putin also said he approved a suggestion that Russia and the United States could discuss deep cuts, of as much as half, in military spending.
“We could come to an agreement with the United States. We’re not against that,” Putin said.
“The idea seems like a good one to me. The United States reduces theirs by 50 percent and we reduce ours by 50 percent. And China could join us later if it wishes.”
Putin dismissed any notion that Trump’s sharp alteration of Washington’s policy on Ukraine, including criticism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and suggestions that Kyiv might not recover all lost territory, was based on emotion.
Trump, he said, was acting logically and free of the constraints of promises to Ukraine made by European leaders.
“Unlike them, the new president of the United States has his hands free from shackles that don’t allow you to move forward,” he said.
“He is moving in a straightforward manner and without particular constraints. He is in a unique position: he doesn’t just say what he thinks, he says what he wants. This is the privilege of the leader of one of the major powers.”


British couple in their 70s detained by Taliban in Afghanistan

British couple in their 70s detained by Taliban in Afghanistan
Updated 25 February 2025
Follow

British couple in their 70s detained by Taliban in Afghanistan

British couple in their 70s detained by Taliban in Afghanistan
  • Peter Reynolds, 79, and his wife Barbie, 75, have spent 18 years running training projects in Afghanistan 
  • Taliban sources tell BBC couple was arrested for working for NGO, using plane without notifying authorities

LONDON: A British couple in their seventies were arrested by the Taliban in Afghanistan earlier this month, it was reported on Sunday.

Peter Reynolds, 79, and his wife Barbie, 75, who have spent 18 years running training projects in the country, were detained on Feb. 1 while returning to their home in Bamiyan.

Their daughter, Sarah Entwistle, told the BBC she had not heard from her parents in more than two weeks. Initially, they were able to send text messages from detention, with Afghan authorities assuring the family that they were “fine.”

However, communication ended three days later, leaving their children in the dark about their well-being since.

Speaking from Daventry in Northamptonshire, Entwistle said: “It’s been over two weeks since the messages stopped and they were taken into custody. We would like the Taliban to release them to go back to their home and continue their work.”

The couple, who met at the University of Bath and married in Kabul in 1970, have been running educational initiatives in Afghanistan since 2009.

Their work included training programs in five schools in Kabul and a project for mothers and children in Bamiyan, reportedly approved by local authorities despite the Taliban’s restrictions on female education and employment.

Entwistle told The Sunday Times: “They said they could not leave when Afghans were in their hour of need. They were meticulous about keeping by the rules even as they kept changing.”

She also expressed concern for her father’s health: “My mother is 75 and my father almost 80 and (he) needs his heart medication after a mini-stroke. They were just trying to help the country they loved. The idea they are being held because they were teaching mothers with children is outrageous.”

Entwistle and her three brothers have written to the Taliban, pleading for their parents’ release.

“We do not understand the reasons behind their arrest,” they said in the letter.

“They have communicated their trust in you, and that as Afghan citizens they will be treated well.”

They also distanced their parents from any potential prisoner exchange.

“Our parents have consistently expressed their commitment to Afghanistan, stating that they would rather sacrifice their lives than become part of ransom negotiations or be traded,” they said.

Taliban sources told the BBC that British nationals had been arrested in Bamiyan province for allegedly working for a nongovernmental organization and using a plane without notifying local authorities. The Taliban has imposed strict regulations on NGOs, banning women from working for them in 2022 and threatening closures for non-compliance.

The UK Foreign Office has acknowledged the detention of two British nationals in Afghanistan but has limited capacity to assist, as Britain does not recognize the Taliban and has no embassy in Kabul.