In the global AI talent list, the United States and China lead by a wide margin.

In the newly released list, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia ranked 16th and 19th globally respectively.

According to the latest Global Artificial Intelligence Report jointly released by the International Financial Forum (IFF) and Deep Knowledge Group (DKG), in terms of the number of AI professionals, the United States and China are far ahead, firmly ranking in the top two positions.

In this list, the top five countries are the United States (32.6%), China (24.4%), India (7.0%), the United Kingdom (5.0%), and Canada (3.5%) in order.

The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia account for 0.7% and 0.4% of the global AI talent pool respectively, ranking 16th and 19th.

Global Ranking of AI Talent Density

Saudi Arabia Has the Region's Best University for AI Talent Cultivation

The report points out that King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) from Saudi Arabia ranks among the top 150 globally in cultivating AI talent and is the highest - ranked university in the AI field in the Middle East.

Previously, KAUST received $20 billion in domestic investment from Saudi Arabia and established partnerships with leading global AI institutions such as Stanford University, becoming one of the most advanced AI laboratories in the region.

The report also mentions that Saudi Arabia is cultivating domestic talent through initiatives such as the "10,000 Coders" program, aiming to train Saudi youth to master advanced programming and machine - learning skills.

According to Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 plan, Saudi Arabia has designated AI as one of the seven core pillars of its economic transformation.

Meanwhile, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia has launched a $1.5 billion AI investment fund. The budget for AI infrastructure accounts for more than 30% of the $500 billion budget of PIF's planned NEOM smart city.

The report shows that Saudi Arabia offers the world's highest compensation for AI talent. The median annual salary for top AI scientists is $420,000, and executives recruited by NEOM may receive a signing bonus of up to $50,000.

According to PwC's estimate, by 2030, AI will contribute $235.2 billion to Saudi Arabia's GDP, accounting for about 12.4% of the total.

The United Arab Emirates Collaborates with Partners to Make Joint Efforts

The United Arab Emirates is also promoting AI governance and infrastructure simultaneously. Its National AI Strategy was launched in 2017, with the goal of achieving full penetration of AI in the fields of healthcare, transportation, energy, and education by 2031.

In May this year, the United Arab Emirates announced that it would jointly build the "Stargate UAE" project with OpenAI, NVIDIA, Cisco, and SoftBank to construct a 1 - gigawatt AI training cluster.

Dmitry Kaminskiy, a partner at Deep Knowledge Group, said that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are becoming one of the leaders in AI by building an education system, providing regulatory support, and making infrastructure investments.

He added that the United Arab Emirates positions itself as a major participant in AI governance and technology development, while Saudi Arabia is building a strong ecosystem for AI talent and applications.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily", author: He Chengrui, published by 36Kr with authorization.