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Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA)

The Kingdom's national authority for data and artificial intelligence, established by royal decree in August 2019.

Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA) appears in 25 stories in the Cicada archive, from 2019 to 2026.

First appearance · August 2019Abdullah Alghamdi appointed to lead SDAIA by royal orderDr.Most recent · 15 September 2026Riyadh hosts Global AI Week with the fourth GAIN Summit and UNESCO ethics forumThe Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) scheduled the fourth Global AI Summit (GAIN) for 15-17 September 2026, at the King Abdulaziz International Conference Center under the pat…

Key figures

Every story, oldest first

  1. Abdullah Alghamdi appointed to lead SDAIA by royal order
  2. Royal decree establishes SDAIA as national data and AI authority
  3. SDAIA's Tawakkalna app, launched in 2020, is reported to serve 34m users
  4. SDAIA launches National Strategy for Data and AI at first Global AI Summit
  5. Saudi Arabia issues its first Personal Data Protection Law
  6. Second Global AI Summit draws 15,000 participants in Riyadh
  7. Royal decree amends the Personal Data Protection Law
  8. Cabinet approves International Center for AI Research and Ethics
  9. SDAIA publishes AI Ethics Principles version 2.0
  10. PDPL takes effect; full enforcement follows in September 2024
  11. SDAIA issues generative AI guidelines for government and the public
  12. SDAIA and IBM launch ALLaM Arabic LLM on watsonx
  13. SDAIA launches 'One Million Saudis in AI' (SAMAI) program
  14. Third Global AI Summit draws 30,000 delegates to Riyadh
  15. SDAIA announces UNESCO Category 2 status for ICAIRE at Global AI Summit
  16. SDAIA publishes national AI Adoption Framework
  17. SDAIA lists ALLaM 7B on Hugging Face
  18. MCIT and SDAIA issue National Data Center Strategy targeting 1.5GW by 2030
  19. SAMAI trains more than one million Saudis in AI, 52% of them women
  20. SDAIA lays foundation stone for 480MW Hexagon government data center
  21. SDAIA launches SAMAI 2 and 40 AI academic programs at ICAN 2026
  22. Saudi Arabia becomes first Arab country to join the Global Partnership on AI
  23. Cabinet designates 2026 as Saudi Arabia's 'Year of Artificial Intelligence'
  24. SDAIA opens consultation on draft Responsible AI Policy with four risk tiers
  25. Riyadh hosts Global AI Week with the fourth GAIN Summit and UNESCO ethics forum

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