With an Eye on AI, Huawei Plans Deeper Expansion in Qatar

Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. is looking to deepen its involvement in Qatar, moving beyond telecommunications into the country's growing artificial intelligence (AI) sector. Huawei has acquired extensive experience in building AI capabilities and plans to offer these to Qatar's government and businesses. This includes the necessary computing power for training AI models, cloud infrastructure, deployment of Huawei’s proprietary model Pangu, and various AI applications such as smart city planning and chatbot assistants. These efforts were discussed by Zhu Shenggao, vice president of AI at Huawei Cloud Middle East and Central Asia, during an event in Qatar. [para. 1][para. 2][para. 3]

Huawei gained recognition in Qatar through its role in deploying 5G technology during the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The company's successful implementation of wireless technology across eight stadiums and supporting live broadcasts brought significant exposure. Zhu highlighted the substantial investment made, with multiple engineers on site, and emphasized the absence of technical issues during the event. This successful collaboration sets the stage for expanding Huawei's cooperation with Qatar in other areas. [para. 4][para. 5][para. 6]

There is potential for cloud adoption in Qatar across various sectors, including computing research, media, and communications. Huawei, which has been present in the Middle East for decades as a telecom operator, expanded to include public cloud services starting in 2017. Most of its Middle Eastern clients are in government, utilities, or oil and gas sectors. Huawei, for instance, is working with the Saudi Arabian government on its Neom megacity project, offering smart city solutions like digital twin technology. Zhu stated that Huawei's cloud presence is rapidly growing in the region due to increasing demand for digital transformation solutions, although the exact market share was not disclosed. [para. 7][para. 8][para. 9]

Huawei aims to integrate more Arabic dialects into its Pangu model and tailor its products for different industries to broaden its customer base. During the Web Summit in Qatar, the company signed a deal with Starlink WLL to become Huawei Cloud’s distributor in the country. This partnership is intended to extend Huawei Cloud's reach through a robust reseller network, offering innovative cloud solutions at competitive prices. Qatar's Vision 2030 development plan, which seeks to diversify the economy and reduce dependency on fossil fuels, creates a conducive environment for such collaborations. The plan also includes boosting Qatar's LNG production capacity and includes a strategy for GDP growth, labor productivity, and increasing foreign direct investment. [para. 10][para. 11][para. 12][para. 13][para. 14]

Open source play a crucial role in the popularity of AI models like DeepSeek, fostering collaboration and AI innovation. U.S. and Chinese tech giants, including Huawei, have incorporated DeepSeek’s AI models into their cloud offerings to attract more developers and subscribers. Huawei plans to deploy DeepSeek to its public cloud clients in Saudi Arabia. [para. 15][para. 16][para. 17]