Saudi Arabia achieves third place worldwide in AI development and employment growth

Saudi Arabia has emerged as a global leader in artificial intelligence, ranking third worldwide in advanced AI model development and AI-related job growth, according to the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI’s 2025 AI Index. The Kingdom follows only the US and China in language model development and ranks just behind India and Brazil in AI employment growth, placing it among the top 10 nations across multiple AI metrics.

These achievements reflect the rapid expansion of Saudi Arabia’s innovation ecosystem under Vision 2030, led by the Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA), with initiatives like the “Samai” program, which aims to train one million Saudis in AI. The Kingdom’s R&D ecosystem supports advanced systems such as “Alam”, a leading Arabic-language generative model. Saudi Arabia also ranks seventh globally in attracting AI talent and eighth in public AI awareness and scientific citations, highlighting its growing role as a hub for emerging technologies.