RIYADH — Following the Kingdom’s designation of 2026 as the Year of Artificial Intelligence, Dr. Abdullah Alghamdi, president of the Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA), stated that Saudi Arabia is hosting the fourth edition in an extraordinary year.
Speaking at the opening session of the fourth edition of the UNESCO Global Forum on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence (GFEAI 2026) in Riyadh on Tuesday, he stated, “This reflects the Kingdom’s commitment to developing artificial intelligence as a driver of progress, competitiveness, and human development.
Under the topic “Transforming Global Cooperation for Ethical AI Governance,” the meeting, co-hosted by Saudi Arabia and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), will run through September 17. In collaboration with UNESCO, the International Center for AI Research and Ethics (ICAIRE), and the National Commission for Education, Culture, and Science, SDAIA is organising the forum.
Ministers from UNESCO member nations, policymakers, specialists, researchers, academics, and representatives of international organisations and governments are all present at the meeting. Alghamdi stated in his inaugural speech that the Kingdom realised early on that combating AI required more than just using new technologies. It necessitates creating an integrated national ecosystem that includes international collaborations, institutions, legal frameworks, and human and technological resources.
He claimed that the creation of SDAIA in 2019 was an example of the Saudi leadership’s forward-thinking attitude to institutionalising data and AI operations at the national level. Mohammed bin Salman, the prime minister and crown prince, is in charge of its board of directors.
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