Huawei signs Iraq data center MoU; AIQ lands India camera deal

Huawei expands in Iraq: Iraq’s Communications Ministry signed an MoU with the Chinese tech giant to build enterprise data centers across the country, Iraqi News reports. The ministry didn’t provide a cost figure for the deal. Huawei already works with 240+ Iraqi enterprises and several government ministries. The deal comes amid competing US and Chinese bids to power the region’s sovereign compute buildout.

AIQ heads to India: The company, a joint venture between Abu Dhabi’s national oil company, ADNOC, and Presight, a division of the UAE’s AI champion, G42, will deploy 1 mn AI-powered cameras across the refineries, gas stations, and digital stores of an unnamed Indian oil and gas conglomerate, it says via Reuters. The cameras will read license plates and provide restocking intelligence. The deal marks a significant expansion outside the MENA region for AIQ. Non-UAE customers currently account for just 5% of its business. The company has previously taken its tech to Kazakhstan and Indonesia.

Presight’s bet on robotics: G42’s Presight and Abu Dhabi investment firm Shorooq are investors in US startup Maven Robotics’ USD 100 mn Series A funding round, per Arab News. The investment came through the pair’s USD 100 mn AI fund and Shorooq’s Bedaya Fund. Maven already has robots operating at customer sites. It will use the fresh capital to produce 250 more of its third-generation robots and expand their use across warehouse operations.