'Like the Industrial Revolution': Netanyahu launches National Artificial Intelligence Program

Artificial intelligence is going to bring about a new era, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the launch of Israel's National AI Program on Sunday.

The program has been under development for several months and was launched in a joint ceremony by Netanyahu and the Head of the National AI Directorate, Brig.-Gen. (res.) Erez Eskel.

"AI is not just another technology; it is going to change the world," Netanyahu stated. "It is going to change the lives of each and every one of us, of our children, and of generations to come. Quite a change is taking place, much like the Industrial Revolution."

He also warned that those who were not able to keep up with the developing technologies would be "left behind."

The two goals of the program, Netanyahu said, were to ensure that Israel would be a "global superpower" in the field of AI, and to promote Israel's economic success.

"This is important. Not only did we do this in cyber, but we also did it in agriculture, medicine, medical devices, and many other fields that you know, and we will do it here too, in artificial intelligence."

The program is only the first step forward, Eskel said during the ceremony.

"We are launching this program, which takes into account the distinct advantages of the State of Israel in the fields of cyber, physical AI, and solving life's problems with AI, while providing infrastructure for the needs of the country and the economy, whether that is Compute infrastructure, powerhouse computing capabilities that almost no countries currently possess, a national quantum computer, and addressing the central and most important issue, the human capital in the State of Israel, which is our true engine."