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RIYADH: ��������Ƶ’s focus on artificial intelligence is starting to take shape after local firm Halo AI secured $6 million in seed funding.

The funding round, led by Saudi-based Raed Ventures and UAE’s Shorooq Partners, also garnered interest from former C-level executives from Snapchat, as well as leaders from Microsoft, Airbnb, Amazon, and investors behind gaming unicorns, according to a press release. 

This investment aligns with the Kingdom’s efforts in AI as it pursues its ambitious initiatives to position ��������Ƶ as a global leader in the field. 

The National Strategy for Data and Artificial Intelligence, launched in 2020, is a cornerstone of these efforts, seeking to attract $20 billion in investments by 2030 and cultivate a workforce of 20,000 AI and data specialists. 

Halo AI, which specializes in using the tech to enhance collaborations between brands and creators, is gearing up to move beyond its successful launch in the Kingdom to new markets, including Dubai and Kuwait, with further expansion across the Middle East and North Africa, and into Europe as well as North America. 

“After decades of building ad products at Meta and Snapchat, we recognized that traditional approaches couldn’t solve the fundamental inefficiencies in creator marketing,” said Vito Strokov, co-founder and CEO of Halo AI. 

“Our agentic AI operates as an intelligent partner in the collaboration process, making autonomous decisions about creator-brand matches, optimizing campaign performance in real-time, and consistently delivering breakthrough results,” Strokov added, stating that the platform reduces manual work by 85 percent while delivering performance metrics that exceed industry standards. 

The investment, announced during the 1 Billion Pitches competition at the 1 Billion Followers Summit in UAE, will support Halo AI’s global expansion plans. 

The creative economy is a sector set to be significantly impacted by AI. According to Halo, its technology is designed to automate and optimize creator-brand partnerships, claiming to achieve a 97 percent campaign completion rate compared to the industry average of 65 percent. 

Additionally, campaigns can be launched within 48 hours, while creators are guaranteed payment within 72 hours — claims that underscore Halo AI’s potential to develop the market. 

The company claims it has already secured partnerships with brands such as Kitopi, ToYou, 1/2M, and Syarah. 

Tina Daher, principal at Shorooq Partners, highlighted the platform’s impact on the creator economy. 

“Halo AI’s pioneering technology is a game-changer, bringing unmatched precision, scalability, and efficiency to this space. At Shorooq, we’re excited to support Halo AI’s vision to redefine how brands and creators connect, enabling them to unlock unprecedented value and impact across the region and globally,” Daher said. 

Raed Ventures also underscored the company’s significance in a rapidly growing sector. 

“The creator economy is booming, and brands are seeking authentic connections with their audiences,” said Wael Nafee, general partner at Raed Ventures. 

“Halo AI’s innovative AI-powered platform is transforming how creator-brand partnerships are formed and executed. We’re proud to lead their fundraising round and confident Halo AI will become a definitive platform in this rapidly growing market,” he added. 

LONDON: Oil prices eased on Tuesday but remained near four-month highs as the impact of fresh US sanctions on Russian oil remained the market’s key focus.

Brent futures slipped 28 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $80.73 a barrel by 7:00 a.m. Saudi time, while US West Texas Intermediate crude fell 18 cents, or 0.2 percent to $78.64 a barrel.

Prices jumped 2 percent on Monday after the US Treasury Department on Friday imposed sanctions on Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas as well as 183 vessels that trade oil as part of Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” of tankers.

“Headlines surrounding Russia oil sanctions have been the dominant driver for oil prices over the past week, and combined with resilient US economic data, the tighter supply-demand dynamics have been seeing some momentum,” said IG market strategist Yeap Jun Rong.

“Prices are taking a slight breather today. With prices rising fast and furious by close to 10 percent since the start of the year, it does prompt some profit-taking as event risks around upcoming US inflation data releases loom.”

The US producer price index will be released later in the day, with consumer price index data on Wednesday.

The stakes are high for Wednesday’s figures, where any rise in core inflation greater than the forecast 0.2 percent would threaten to close the door on further Federal Reserve interest rate cuts this year.

Lower interest rates typically help in stimulating economic growth, which could prop up oil demand.

“The recent rally to a three-month high does signal an improvement in sentiment, but while broad bearish pressures have eased for the time being, a stronger catalyst is still needed to fuel a sustained broader uptrend,” IG’s Yeap added.

While analysts were still expecting a significant price impact on Russian oil supplies from the fresh sanctions, the actual physical impact could be less.

“These sanctions have the potential to take as much as 700k b/d of supply off the market, which would erase the surplus that we are expecting for this year. However, the actual reduction in flows will likely be less, as Russia and buyers find ways around these sanctions – clearly there will be more strain on non-sanctioned vessels within the shadow fleet,” ING analysts said in a note.

Meanwhile, demand uncertainty from major buyer China could blunt the impact of the tighter supply. China’s crude oil imports fell in 2024 for the first time in two decades outside of the COVID-19 pandemic, official data showed on Monday.

“New sanctions on Russian tankers are expected to impact crude supply to China and India, though key players in these countries are still assessing the legal situation and possible workarounds,” said Sparta Commodities’ Philip Jones-Lux.