UAE – Mubasher: Dubai-based consumer technology holding group Astra Tech has collaborated with Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) to launch the first-ever Arabic ChatGPT in the Middle East and Africa (MEA).

Integrated into the BOTIM app, the Arabic ChatGPT aims to revolutionise access to services through conversational commerce, according to a press release.

Being part of a new era of artificial intelligence (AI)-driven solutions in the region, the advanced GPT is initially available to a select group of 100 million BOTIM users before gradually expanding in the near future while catering to the app features such as international money transfers, bill payments, and e-commerce, in addition to government services and weather checks.

The new AI tool will ensure that all provided information is always current and accurate through ongoing sourcing of latest information from local markets.

BOTIM’s Arabic ChatGPT is under development to expand in the upcoming months and include additional services like BOTIM stores and healthcare services. This step will make it the ultimate one-stop-shop for users across the MEA region.

Co-Founder and CEO of Astra Tech, which is BOTIM’s parent company, Abdallah Abu Sheikh, stated: “BOTIM’s Arabic ChatGPT marks another significant step towards simplifying people's daily lives and transforming the global tech industry while also enhancing the capabilities of our upcoming Ultra app.”

Abu Sheikh elaborated: “The Middle East is poised to experience a 20% annual growth rate in AI by 2030, and the UAE is set to lead the region with an average annual contribution of nearly 35%.”

Following the testing phase, the Arabic ChatGPT users can input their inquiries into the chat field and the model will process the sentence. It will offer source URLs redirecting the users to more information about a particular service of interest.