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Saudi Film Commission To Explore AI In The Movie Industry
The Ministry of Culture’s Film Commission met to discuss how Artificial Intelligence can improve both film production and marketing.
Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) seem to be making the headlines regularly, as ChatGPT and various art creation tools take the internet by storm.
Now, however, AI looks set to transform the film industry, with up-and-coming filmmaker Ahmed Al-Hamoud and Ahmed Kaky — an AI researcher from John Moores University — collaborating on an innovative AI technology that will transform the cinematic frame, blending creative ideas with technical insight.
Powerful AI software isn’t just able to write scripts and compile camera data. The technology could also be used to predict the success of movie projects, design graphics and even promote new movies.
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The Saudi Ministry of Culture’s Film Commission has been closely monitoring the developments of this new technology and is now actively exploring how it can be put to work in the movie industry. At a recent meeting, the film commission noted that computer vision, deep learning, and robotics could aid film production, marketing, and distribution and help make the industry more competitive.
However, although the Saudi Film Commission looked favorably at the use of AI, they also observed that the technology could easily be used for counterfeiting and warned of stagnation if the software was used too frequently.
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NEOPAY Wants To Follow Merchants Across Channels And Borders
A controlling 65% stake in noon payments would give NEOPAY access to marketplace sellers, online merchants and the payment flows they generate.
It’s been a long time since checkouts were single defined places. A merchant might take payments at a physical register, on its own website and through an online marketplace, sometimes in more than one country. NEOPAY wants to follow those transactions wherever they happen.
The UAE payments company has entered into an agreement to acquire a 65% controlling stake in noon payments. NEOPAY already runs the acquiring infrastructure that lets merchants accept card payments, along with omnichannel acceptance and a merchant services platform. This new deal would add noon payments’ embedded payments platform, e-commerce gateway and merchant network across the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. That would considerably expand both NEOPAY’s digital commerce capabilities and its regional reach.
For merchants, the attraction is a single provider for online and in-store payments, plus faster settlements, data and analytics, and value-added financial services.
“Payments should be simple, reliable, and built for the markets they serve,” said Faraz Khalid, CEO of noon. His counterpart at NEOPAY, Vibhor Mundhada, added: “We have built a strong payments business in the UAE, and our ambition is now to take that capability across the region”. The acquisition, Mundhada added, would “expand our footprint into Saudi Arabia and Egypt” while reinforcing NEOPAY’s position at home.
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NEOPAY is also keen to point out potential payment volume increases. The company says noon payments’ integrations with marketplace sellers and online merchants create high transaction density in some of the region’s fastest-growing digital commerce segments. It also believes control of the business would give it access to those merchant relationships and payment flows, and speed up the rollout of alternative payment methods and installment options.
The combined roadmap targets faster merchant onboarding, better payment performance, tighter fraud controls and embedded financial services. The deal could also strengthen cross-border payments and settlement along key regional commerce corridors.
NEOPAY Wants To Follow Merchants Across Channels And Borders
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