Saudi Arabia gives robot citizenship

TECHNOLOGY

Saudi Arabia has become the first country to offer a robot citizenship, in a move to demonstrate the country’s suitability as a place to develop AI. During a business event in Riyadh, Sophia the robot was confirmed as a Saudi citizen. Sophia expressed her gratitude: “Thank you to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I am very honored and proud for this unique distinction. It is historic to be the first robot in the world to be recognized with citizenship.”

Sophia

FROM HANSON ROBOTICS

Sophia was built by Hong Kong-based company Hanson Robotics in 2015. Inventor David Hanson, renowned for creating robots that look and act like humans, has explained that Sophie has Artificial Intelligence capabilities. She can recognize faces and mimic 62 human facial expressions with her silicon features.

The MENA region is making work of technology leadership. Operators in the Gulf region were amongst the earliest to deploy LTE and aim to maintain their leadership with 5G technologies. According to a recent report by Deloitte, Middle East mobile operators are expected to invest USD 50 billion in network infrastructure from 2017-2021, with particular focus on 5G networks.

The World Economic Forum’s Global Information Technology Report 2016 ranks the UAE as the global leading country in network readiness. UAE leaders’ vision extends beyond 2020 and 5G will have a profound impact on societies and economies throughout the region. In terms of 4G and 5G development, the region has extended the deployment of 4G networks. 5G deployment agreements have been observed in countries such as Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE. Another interesting development: Netflix 4k is coming to MENA…

MEET SOPHIA THE HUMANOID

Sophia was built by Hong Kong-based company Hanson Robotics in 2015. Inventor David Hanson, renowned for creating robots that look and act like humans, has explained that Sophie has Artificial Intelligence capabilities. She can recognize faces and mimic 62 human facial expressions with her silicon features.

The MENA region is making work of technology leadership. Operators in the Gulf region were amongst the earliest to deploy LTE and aim to maintain their leadership with 5G technologies. According to a recent report by Deloitte, Middle East mobile operators are expected to invest USD 50 billion in network infrastructure from 2017-2021, with particular focus on 5G networks.

The World Economic Forum’s Global Information Technology Report 2016 ranks the UAE as the global leading country in network readiness. UAE leaders’ vision extends beyond 2020 and 5G will have a profound impact on societies and economies throughout the region. In terms of 4G and 5G development, the region has extended the deployment of 4G networks. 5G deployment agreements have been observed in countries such as Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE. Another interesting development: Netflix 4k is coming to MENA…