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A global edition of the International AI Olympiad gets underway in Riyadh on Sunday, with teams from 25 countries expected to take part. The event, which will run until Thursday, is being organized by the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority in collaboration with UNESCO, the International Center for AI Research and Ethics, and the International Research Center on Artificial Intelligence, in Slovenia. The SDAIA hopes the olympiad will serve as a platform for AI competitions, and nurture talent while fostering skills development, the Saudi Press Agency reported. The event will be a forum for scientists and enthusiasts from around the world to compete and also exchange ideas, enhance capabilities, and explore the latest advances in the field, the SPA added. The SDAIA has prepared for the event over the past five weeks by holding a series of virtual lectures on AI designed to qualify international teams for the competition and empower students from various countries to expand their knowledge in the sector. The lectures covered topics such as the social impact of AI and working with data.
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The Sharjah Civil Defence will use drone technology to deal with fires in high-rise buildings in the emirate, starting next year. The new technology will enter service in the first quarter of 2025 and will contribute significantly to achieving the strategic and operational goals set by the authority related to reducing firefighting time and achieving rapid response, especially in high-rise buildings, and moving from traditional firefighting methods to advanced and creative methods. The authority tested the drone with a technical team from the Civil Defence and the company Drone First Building Services, based in the UAE. Brigadier Sami Al Naqbi, Director General of Sharjah Civil Defence, said: “We tested the drone, and it passed the test successfully, reaching a height of 150 metres, equivalent to about 40 floors, in just 18 seconds,” adding that the drone demonstrated the ability at this height to spray water up to 15 metres from an internal tank with a capacity of 5,000 litres, which is refilled via a water hose connected to a ground tank. Brigadier Al Naqbi explained that the drone can be equipped with a thermal camera that helps firefighting teams determine the source and intensity of heat and its concentration, especially […]
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In his first public statements since his arrest by France on Aug. 24 at Paris’ Le Bourget airport, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov blasted French authorities for detaining and charging him, but also admitted that Telegram is not perfect that he’ll work to clean up instances of criminals abusing the platform. He argued in a post to Telegram that it wildly departs from norms for a government to go after a CEO personally, as opposed to the “established practice” of bringing legal against the company. “Using laws from the pre-smartphone era to charge a CEO with crimes committed by third parties on the platform he manages is a misguided approach,” the billionaire tech entrepreneur wrote. “Building technology is hard enough as it is,” he continued. “No innovator will ever build new tools if they know they can be personally held responsible for potential abuse of those tools.” “We’ve been committed to engaging with regulators to find the right balance [between privacy and security],” Durov continued. “Yes, we stand by our principles: our experience is shaped by our mission to protect our users in authoritarian regimes. But we’ve always been open to dialogue.” Durav was detained by the National Anti-Fraud Office (ONAF), over the alleged facilitation of various crimes […]
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Saudi Arabia’s Passports Directorate and the Saudi Authority for Data and Artificial Intelligence unveiled a commemorative passport stamp to mark the Global AI Summit to be held in Riyadh. Travelers at Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport, King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, and King Fahd International Airport in Dammam will get their passports stamped with the commemorative mark throughout the summit’s duration from September 10-12, 2024. The Kingdom will welcome economic policymakers, major technology and artificial intelligence companies, international thought leaders, and heads of international organizations to the summit’s third edition. The event will take place amid increasing concerns about the impact of AI technologies and will reaffirm the Kingdom’s commitment to supporting international efforts aimed at enhancing human welfare in the face of the challenges associated with developing technology.
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A 20-year-old man has been arrested and charged with defrauding four individuals by promising them unrealistic returns on their investments through online trading platforms. The suspect, who claimed to be able to double their money, lured the victims with a fabricated account statement showing a substantial sum of money. After receiving their funds, he failed to deliver any profits and refused to return their initial investments. The Security Directorate received multiple complaints against the suspect, prompting an investigation. Lucrative returns The investigation revealed that the suspect had deceived several individuals, promising them lucrative returns on their investments through online trading, but ultimately absconding with their money. One victim, a man in his 20s, met the suspect at a cafe in February 2024. The suspect, claiming to be a successful trader, presented a fake account statement showing a balance of BD40,000. He offered to help the victim increase his income through trading. Profity The victim, believing the suspect’s claims, initially sent him BD200. The suspect later contacted the victim, claiming to have generated a 40% profit. The victim continued to send money to the suspect, eventually reaching a total of BD25,000. However, when the victim requested his money back, the suspect […]
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Brazil has not just banned X (formerly Twitter) from the entire country, but citizens will now be fined $9000 a day (more than the average salary in the country) for using VPNs to access the platform. X is the main source of news for Brazilians, who will now be left with government-approved sources or face financial ruin in seeking unfettered information. The Guardian is reporting that the confiscatory fines are part of a comprehensive crackdown on efforts to get news through X, including ordering all Apple stores to remove X from new phones. The move puts Brazil with China in the effort to create a wall of censorship between citizens and unregulated information. For the anti-free speech movement, Brazil is a key testing ground for where the movement is heading next. European censors are arresting CEOs like Pavel Durov while threatening Elon Musk. However, it is Brazil that foreshadows the brave new world of censorship where entire nations will block access to sites committed to free speech values or unfettered news. If successful, the Brazilian model is likely to be replicated by other countries. The reason is that censorship is not working. As discussed in my book “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage,” we have never seen the […]
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In a dramatic incident at an office in Umm Al Hassam, a man narrowly escaped injury when his phone’s battery exploded while he was waiting in the reception area. The incident took place as 53-year-old Hafees Hussain was watching videos on his phone, a Samsung Galaxy Note 4, a model released in 2014. “I was watching videos on my phone when it suddenly exploded. I didn’t even feel any heat from the phone,” Hussain told. The unexpected explosion left him shocked and shaken. Fortunately, the quick actions of those nearby prevented further harm. They swiftly extinguished the fire that erupted after the explosion, averting any additional damage or injury. “It was very close to my face,” Hussain explained, recounting the harrowing experience with visible distress. Initial investigations suggest that the phone had been in use for an extended period, but Hussain noted there were no prior signs of any issues with the device before the explosion. Excessive heat To find out the technical reason DT reached a few experts and they explained that excessive heat being the most common reason for such explosions. When a battery heats up quickly during charging or heavy usage, it can cause a chemical reaction […]
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Last week, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) organized the World Robot Conference – where they showcased the latest advancements that China’s robotics industry has produced over the past several years. According to the CCP, China’s humanoid robots are “catching up fast with global rivals,” with advances such as the incorporation of AI into some of its robots that have military capabilities. We’re picturing mindless robot patrols enforcing the next ‘welded in’ pandemic lockdown, with deadl(ier) results. According to sources, China’s humanoid robots on display at the conference could easily be equipped with weapons and probably already have been. The People’s Liberation Army has demonstrated armed flying drones and quadruped AI robots that resemble dogs with machine guns mounted to their backs. The killer robot dogs can reportedly fire their weapons autonomously. China’s rapid rise in robotics is state-directed and subsidized to the tune of over $1.4 billion, according to an official announcement in 2023. In 2012, China installed fewer than 15 percent of industrial robots globally. By 2022, that number increased to over 50 percent, with China installing over 250,000, the most in the world. By comparison, Japan and the United States installed just about 50,000 and 40,000, respectively. Click here to read more.
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The Saudi Astronomy and Astrophysics Team returned home on Thursday after winning three bronze medals at the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from August 17 to 27. The event featured over 250 students from 53 countries. The Kingdom’s medal winners included Joud Basim Hamdan Al-Lahyani, a second-year secondary school student from the Makkah Education Directorate; Hussein Hassan bin Mohammed Al-Mubarak, a first-year secondary school student from the Eastern Province Education Directorate; and Fajr Hassan bin Ali Al-Ubaidan, a second-year secondary school student from the Al-Ahsa Education Directorate. This success reflects the rigorous training and qualification journey undertaken by the Saudi students in camps organized through a collaboration between King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity (Mawhiba), the Communications, Space and Technology Commission (CST), and the Ministry of Education. The IOAA, first held in 2006 in Thailand, is an annual competition for secondary school students. Saudi Arabia participated last year with an observer team to prepare for this year’s competition.
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As we previewed overnight, Elon Musk’s X has been ordered ‘immediately suspended’ by Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes, citing the company’s refusal to comply with a legal order to censor the judge’s political opponents, Bloomberg reports. Officially, the ruling was due to Musk’s refusal to name a legal representative for the social network (after the judge froze his last attorney’s bank accounts). On Thursday, X’s global government affairs account said that it would “not comply in secret with illegal orders,” and said that it would publish Moraes’ demands and related court documents for transparency. When we attempted to defend ourselves in court, Judge de Moraes threatened our Brazilian legal representative with imprisonment. Even after she resigned, he froze all of her bank accounts. Our challenges against his manifestly illegal actions were either dismissed or ignored. Judge de Moraes’ colleagues on the Supreme Court are either unwilling or unable to stand up to him. We are absolutely not insisting that other countries have the same free speech laws as the United States. The fundamental issue at stake here is that Judge de Moraes demands we break Brazil’s own laws. We simply won’t do that. In the days to come, we will publish all of Judge de Moraes’ […]
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