Saudi Arabia escalates Arabic AI race with new state-backed chatbot
The app is available only in Saudi Arabia, but the company plans to expand across the region and eventually globally.
Saudi Arabia has unveiled a new Arabic language chatbot that pits it more directly against the United Arab Emirates, as the two Gulf powers vie to lead the Middle East’s artificial intelligence race by promoting new offerings that speak to local culture and values.
On Aug. 25, Humain — a state-owned company set up earlier this year by the kingdom’s $925 billion Public Investment Fund — unveiled Humain Chat, a conversational AI app built on its flagship large language model, ALLAM 34B. The app is initially available only in Saudi Arabia, but the company plans to expand across the region and eventually globally.
Details: The launch marks one of the first concrete products from Humain, which Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman revealed in May just ahead of US President Donald Trump’s high-profile Gulf tour. During that visit, Humain struck strategic deals with chipmakers Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices.
“This is not the end state, but the beginning of a journey to serve the kingdom, the Arabic-speaking world and beyond,” said Humain CEO Tareq Amin while announcing the new chatbot.
