Over 60% of surveyed residents in Saudi Arabia and the UAE said they would upgrade to an AI-powered PC, with another 29% saying they’d probably consider it, indicating favorable market prospects, according to a press release citing an Intel-commissioned survey. Saudi Arabia was crowned the highest in the middle east for AI adoption at 58.5%, followed by the UAE at 41.5%.

Interest is especially strong among younger consumers, with 35% of the age group between 25-34 years old and 26.4% of the age group between 18-24 years old expressing high enthusiasm for adopting AI-powered PCs.

Overall sentiment toward AI learning and adaptation in the region is positive, with 36% expressing strong positivity, 34% showing some concern, and only 4% holding somewhat negative views (no fully negative views were recorded).

BUT- About 85% of the respondents expressed some level of concern — extreme concern was limited to 6-7% of respondents, while moderate concern was the most prevalent (29% of male and 28.4% of female respondents). Additionally, current AI PC usage remains low, with 44% of respondents reporting no prior usage despite awareness of AI PCs and only 6% currently owning such devices.

IN CONTEXT- Backed by some 14 regulations from the Saudi Authority for Data and Artificial Intelligence (SDAIA), the domestic AI market is expected to hit USD 9.2 bn by 2030 (12% of GDP), with USD 15 bn of expected investments to boost data center capacity to 1.3 GW.

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