President of the Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA) Dr. Abdullah bin Sharaf Alghamdi underscored on Tuesday Saudi Arabia's commitment, under the directives of Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince, Prime Minister, and Chairman of SDAIA's Board of Directors, to advancing international efforts to strengthen AI governance and promote the responsible and safe use of its technologies in support of humanity and sustainable development. He made his remarks during separate meetings with Director-General of the International Labour Organization Gilbert F. Houngbo, World Bank Vice President for Digital and AI Sangbu Kim, and Germany's Federal Minister for Digital Transformation Dr. Karsten Wildberger, on the sidelines of the Global Dialogue on AI Governance in Geneva. The meetings were attended by Saudi Permanent Representative to the United Nations and international organizations in Geneva Ambassador Abdulmohsen bin Khothaila. The meetings reviewed ways to strengthen international cooperation in data and AI, boost governance frameworks for emerging technologies, and promote their ethical and responsible adoption in support of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals while helping address future risks affecting societies and labor markets. Alghamdi highlighted the Kingdom's initiatives to advance AI governance and ethics, most notably the establishment of the International Center for AI Research and Ethics (ICAIRE) in Riyadh under the auspices of UNESCO. He underlined the Kingdom's efforts to support the responsible adoption of AI through governance frameworks, risk management tools, maturity assessments, and accountability mechanisms that foster trust and encourage innovation. Alghamdi invited the international officials to participate in the fourth Global Forum on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, organized by SDAIA in cooperation with UNESCO and ICAIRE, to be held in Riyadh from September 14 to 17, as part of the Kingdom's Year of Artificial Intelligence.
