Abu Dhabi has formally launched what it is calling the world's biggest racing league for self-driving cars powered by artificial intelligence in a move aimed at promoting driverless technology.
The Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League (A2RL) will be held on April 28, 2024, at the Yas Marina Circuit, with 10 teams vying for prizes amounting to $2.25 million, Aspire, the programme development arm of the UAE capital's Advanced Technology Research Council, said at the Gitex Global technology conference on Monday.
The teams will comprise universities and research organisations from the UAE, China, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Singapore, Switzerland and the US.
The league will be supported by the Japan Race Promotion, which manages the Japanese Super Formula Championship.
Teams will be granted exclusive access to a brand new Dallara Super Formula SF23 car developed by the Italian company, which has been given self-driving capabilities specifically for the league.
The car is manufactured using sustainable biocomposite materials, weighs 690kg and is currently the fastest open-wheel racer in the world after Formula One vehicles, reaching maximum speeds of 300kph.
The 10 teams will have the opportunity to adapt the software algorithms of their race car.
"We combine talent, technology and extreme sports in order to forge a pathway to the future of mobility," Aspire's executive director Tom McCarthy said at the launch.
"We will combine state-of-the-art motor racing parts with robotic technology and AI to deliver an extreme sporting experience."
The A2RL is expected to also branch out to other sectors linked to Abu Dhabi's research and development and hobby ecosystems to promote the advancement of innovation and AI, he said.
"Our racing is not just applicable to transportation. It is also useful in advancing sectors such as health care and logistics. And to that end, in addition to car racing, we will stage autonomous drone racing and autonomous buggy racing," Mr McCarthy said.
"We will also stimulate the interest of youth by organising Stem [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] racers where high school students can compete using scaled down versions of this car and race autonomously."
The league, first announced in March, wants to provide a new way to watch motor racing.
Spectators will have access to virtual reality and augmented reality technology, allowing them to get in the driver's seat and see the action firsthand, with live updates and real-time displays shown on screen.
It is early days for the new strand of motorsport but autonomous racing leagues and events are coming up around the world.
The annual Indy Autonomous Challenge, hosted at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the US from 2021, is the first to host a competition involving self-driving cars.
Organisers of the IAC event say they were inspired by those who took part in the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency Grand Challenge, which had a $1 million prize in 2004.
That competition of mostly university-affiliated teams gave rise to the modern self-driving vehicle industry.
Aspire, the organisers of Abu Dhabi's new league, are taking a similar approach, opening to all teams from previous self-driving car competitions, as well as universities and public and private research institutions.
"No driver, no central control – just the coders racing against each other at breakneck speed around the iconic Yas Marina Circuit," Mr McCarthy said.
Aspire is looking to develop other race formats in the future with the help of the latest technology, he said.
"We are listening to the industry and together with them we are designing race formats that will, in essence, be real-world experiments where we will demonstrate ... what autonomous systems can achieve," he said.
"And, in that way, give consumer confidence to having these put into production cars. Our racing will see advanced technology, robotics and autonomous systems introduced into production cars sooner."
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Abu Dhabi traffic facts
Drivers in Abu Dhabi spend 10 per cent longer in congested conditions than they would on a free-flowing road
The highest volume of traffic on the roads is found between 7am and 8am on a Sunday.
Travelling before 7am on a Sunday could save up to four hours per year on a 30-minute commute.
The day was the least congestion in Abu Dhabi in 2019 was Tuesday, August 13.
The highest levels of traffic were found on Sunday, November 10.
Drivers in Abu Dhabi lost 41 hours spent in traffic jams in rush hour during 2019
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Odessa Young, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 4/5
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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MATCH INFO
Liverpool 4 (Salah (pen 4, 33', & pen 88', Van Dijk (20')
Leeds United 3 (Harrison 12', Bamford 30', Klich 66')
Man of the match Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
MATCH INFO
Borussia Dortmund 0
Bayern Munich 1 (Kimmich 43')
Man of the match: Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich)
