ARABIE SAOUDITE PERSPECTIVE

Saudi Arabia is not merely regulating AI — it is making it a civilizational project at the heart of Vision 2030. The official designation of 2026 as the 'Year of Artificial Intelligence' by the Royal Cabinet places AI among national priorities alongside post-oil diversification and societal modernization. SDAIA orchestrates a national strategy around six pillars with colossal resources: $9.1 billion in funding for Saudi AI companies in 2025 through 70 investment deals.

Saudi media framing is a fascinating case of modernizing nationalism applied to technology. Asharq Al-Awsat and Saudi Gazette celebrate international rankings — first globally in public sector AI adoption, 14th in the Global AI Index — as proof that the monarchical model can be more efficient than Western democracies mired in their regulatory debates. The Shaheen III supercomputer and Hexagon data center (480 megawatts, the world's largest government facility) are presented as symbols of a kingdom that 'doesn't just consume AI but produces it.' The absence of any criticism of the Trump framework is notable: Riyadh sees in the American pro-business approach a model compatible with its own regional hub ambitions.

What Saudi coverage carefully conceals is how the security apparatus uses AI. Mass surveillance, facial recognition during Hajj, and behavioral prediction systems are never discussed in the context of AI governance. The human rights angle — exploited migrant workers building AI infrastructure, online dissent repression — is an absolute blind spot.