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JEDDAH: A new computer operating system that responds to voice commands instead of clicks from ��������’s Public Investment Fund-backed AI firm Humain is set to debut this week, revealed a senior executive. 

The startup said its new product, Humain 1, is designed as a potential alternative to icon-based systems like Windows or macOS that have dominated personal computing since the mid-1980s, Reuters reported, citing a company spokesperson. 

This comes as �������� is using artificial intelligence to boost innovation and economic growth in key sectors such as healthcare, finance, and logistics. The country is also investing in research and development to strengthen its position as a regional hub for AI and support its shift toward a knowledge-based economy. 

“Rather than looking at icons where you click for discrete applications, now you (...) speak your intent,” Reuters quoted Humain CEO Tareq Amin as saying at the FortuneGlobal Forum in Riyadh. 

The AI company aims to be the first to officially launch such a system, even as other firms develop similar products. It also plans to build approximately 6 gigawatts of data center capacity. 

Launched in May under the Public Investment Fund and chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Humain focuses on developing advanced Arabic language models and large-scale AI infrastructure. 

It aims to position �������� as a global AI leader by the end of the decade, fostering local innovation, generating intellectual property, and attracting top international AI talent and investment. 

A Humain spokesperson told Reuters that “the company started developing the new operating system shortly after it launched in May and has been testing it internally for payroll and human resources systems.” 

On Oct. 26, Humain signed a strategic partnership with the FII Institute to advance human-centric AI innovation through thought leadership. 

The partnership comes ahead of the 9th edition of FII Institute’s flagship conference, FII9 in Riyadh, where Humain was set to unveil a series of major product and partnership announcements, including its new operating system. 

Earlier in October, Humain signed a strategic framework agreement with center3, a regional digital infrastructure company owned by stc Group.

The partnership aims to provide advanced connectivity services to support the company’s efforts to build �������� into a global AI hub. 

Under the agreement, Humain will use center3’s infrastructure to ensure reliable national and international network connections — a key step in developing the Kingdom’s full-stack AI ecosystem. 

In August, the company introduced Humain Chat, an Arabic AI app trained on what the firm says is the world’s largest Arabic-language dataset.

The app is the first product in the firm’s AI suite and is powered by Allam 34B, an Arabic model developed in �������� by local engineers. . 

RIYADH: UK finance minister Rachel Reeves said on Monday she was confident a trade deal with Gulf countries can be done quickly after she had “really good” meetings in Riyadh about an agreement that could help her plan to speed up economic growth.

“I am really confident we can get that deal over the line,” she said at a forum held in the Saudi capital, adding she was hopeful that the agreement could be reached “very soon.”

Reeves, making the first visit to the region by a British finance minister in six years, will seek to advance trade talks while attending ��������’s flagship investment summit.

She planned to use the trip to speak with her counterparts from Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar to try to progress a trade deal with the Gulf Cooperation Council — a six-nation group.

British administrations have sought to reach an agreement with the GCC after the UK left the EU in 2020.

Reeves also expected to meet senior Saudi royals, members of President Donald Trump’s administration and business figures while in �������� for a gathering of global political leaders and company chief executives.

Last year ��������’s Public Investment Fund bought a 15 percent stake in London’s Heathrow Airport from Spanish construction company Ferrovial and Britain said it expected further investment announcements this week.

New state-owned airline Riyadh Air, which ordered 25 partly British-built Airbus A350 aircraft in June, has announced its inaugural flight will be to Heathrow.

Britain’s finance ministry said it estimated a GCC trade deal would add £1.6 billion ($2.2 billion) a year to British economic output — equivalent to about 0.06 percent of annual gross domestic product.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited �������� and the UAE last year.