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MENA’s Biggest Online Piracy Site Shahed4U Shuts Down
The platform had been operating since 2015, and notched up 155 million monthly visits and around 18,700 movie files.
Egyptian authorities have shut down one of the Middle East and North Africa’s largest online platforms for downloading pirated media, Shahed4U. The site’s servers were located in Alexandria and Cairo and offered access to 68,000 TV titles and 18,700 films.
At its peak, the site’s traffic hit 155 million monthly visits across 118 domains and various copycat sites. Shahed4U had been distributing pirated content since 2015, and the closure follows those of Egybest and MyCima. Egyptian authorities were helped with the shutdown by the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), the world’s foremost anti-piracy coalition.
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“This spate of unprecedented ACE actions in the MENA region underscores our ever-expanding global reach and our growing relationships with law enforcement and local industry around the world [and is] core to ACE’s global goal of eradicating the illegal distribution of content and protecting the legal marketplace for content creators,” says Charles Rivkin, Chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association and Chairman of ACE.
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Google To Launch AI Hub In Saudi Arabia, Aiming For $71B GDP Boost
The tech giant also plans to develop local AI solutions, and train regional talent to foster innovation and entrepreneurship.
Google has announced plans to set up a cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) hub in Saudi Arabia, a move aimed at accelerating technological growth and economic development across the wider gulf region. The ambitious project aligns with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, an initiative that champions technology and innovation as central to economic diversification away from the oil industry.
According to Google, the hub has the potential to contribute as much as $71 billion to Saudi Arabia’s economy. The initiative will likely speed up the adoption of AI across industries such as healthcare, retail, and financial services — not only within Saudi Arabia but also throughout the wider MENA region and beyond.
Yasir Al Rumayyan, Governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), highlighted the importance of the project for the Kingdom: “This partnership demonstrates PIF’s dedication to fostering an AI-friendly environment through investments in human capital and technology, upskilling thousands with cutting-edge tools to support our sustainable and innovative infrastructure goals,” he explained. Al Rumayyan also emphasized that Saudi Arabia’s combination of sector knowledge and long-term investment strategies makes it an ideal environment for global technology partnerships.
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A central aim of Google’s initiative is nurturing local talent. The AI hub will offer a range of training, research, and collaboration opportunities for developers, researchers, and entrepreneurs within Saudi Arabia. Google envisions training “millions” of people, helping to create a robust innovation ecosystem that supports entrepreneurship and ensures economic benefits reach all segments of society.
As international technology giants increasingly look to develop solutions tailored to regional needs, Google’s initiative reflects a progressive approach that leverages the strengths of local markets. With the potential to inject billions into the economy and strengthen digital capacities, Saudi Arabia could soon emerge as a prominent center for AI innovation in the Middle East.