AI Dispatch | May 8 - 14 - MIT Sloan Management Review Middle East

Artificial intelligence is accelerating change across industries and geographies. 'AI Dispatch' tracks the week’s key developments in the fast-evolving global AI landscape.

1. NASA and IBM Team Up for AI Model Deployment in Orbit

Researchers from Adelaide University and South Australia’s SmartSat Cooperative Research Center have achieved a world first by deploying NASA and IBM’s open-source Prithvi Geospatial AI foundation model in orbit. Prithvi is equipped to perform Earth observation tasks such as flood mapping, cloud detection, disaster monitoring, and crop yield prediction.

2. Hundreds of OpenAI Employees Become Multi-Millionaires

Apart from corporations and AI startups, the AI boom is now benefiting employees as well. Over 600 OpenAI employees are experiencing these gains. In October 2025, OpenAI staff sold their stock holdings for a total of $6.6 billion in a single day, with each employee receiving nearly $11 million. The AI startup requires two years of wait time before employees can sell their stocks.

3. Meta to Spot Underage Users by Scanning Photos for Height and Bone Structure

In a move to curb underage children joining social media platforms, Meta is deploying advanced AI tools to detect and block users under 13 who attempt to join Facebook and Instagram using fake birth dates. The technology will scan users’ media for visual clues about their age. The tool is not just a facial recognition one but rather considers general themes and cues, such as height and bone structure.

4. Coursera, Udemy Complete Merger to Build AI Skills Platform

Coursera has finalized its merger with Udemy, forming one of the world’s largest online learning platforms amid surging demand for workplace skills amid rapid job market shifts. The combined company will reach more than 290 million learners worldwide, 18,000 enterprise customers and 95,000 instructors and content creators.

5. Saudi Arabia Unveils Fresh Guidelines to Regulate Deepfakes

The Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) has released new deepfake governance guidelines to regulate the wave of synthetic media driven by generative AI tools. The document positions deepfakes not as an inherently harmful technology, but as a dual-use capability whose societal impact depends largely on intent, deployment context, and oversight mechanisms.

6. 79% of UAE CEOs Say Their Jobs Are at Risk Without AI Results: Study

For CEOs, AI is increasingly becoming a defining measure of their leadership, credibility, and performance. A new global study from Dataiku and Harris Poll highlights how executives are experiencing pressure to prove that AI investments can translate into measurable outcomes.

According to the 2026 edition of the “CEO Confessions Study,” Nearly one-quarter of UAE CEOs surveyed said decisions their organizations make about AI today could ultimately damage their long-term legacy.

7. Aramco Deploys Industrial AI as Strait of Hormuz Crisis Threatens Fuel Supplies

With ongoing geopolitical tensions disrupting global energy supplies, Saudi Aramco warns of tightening fuel supplies. Aramco CEO Amin Nasser warned that prolonged disruption in the Strait of Hormuz could delay the oil market’s recovery until 2027.

At the same time, Aramco is also expanding its use of industrial AI with a new refinery optimization platform developed with Emerson. The system combines engineering models, industrial AI, and real-time plant data to improve refinery planning accuracy, even as conditions change.

8. Oman’s Digital Payment Transactions Jump 76% in 2025

Data issued by the Central Bank of Oman showed that the value of transactions through local electronic payment gateways reached approximately RO3.2bn in 2025, marking a 76.3% increase from 2024. The number of transactions also rose sharply from 67 million to more than 168 million during the year, representing a 150% increase.

QR code technology recorded the highest growth among digital payment methods, with transactions increasing by 133.5%.