African Startup Conference: Launch of First Arabic-Language Reasoning Engine NAJM.AI

BY: Hana Saada

ALGIERS- Algeria witnessed the launch of the first artificial intelligence (AI) reasoning engine in Arabic on Thursday during the closing ceremony of the 2nd edition of the African Startup Conference (ASC). The innovative project, named “NAJM.AI,” was developed by Arab talents, specifically Algerian-Syrian experts, including Algerian doctors Mourad Bouache, the project’s technology director and chief engineer at Intel’s Academy of Artificial Intelligence, and Fouad Boustouane, executive director at the Research Center for Artificial Intelligence of the American company Grainger, alongside Syrian doctor Hassan Ghara.

“NAJM is an AI-based reasoning engine capable of generating a summary in Arabic, complete with references, based on the question asked,” explained Mr. Bouache to the APS news agency.

This solution, often described as a “ChatGPT in Arabic,” can create summaries based on queries “after conducting research on the web and across various platforms, including social networks, using keywords,” he added.

Mr. Bouache emphasized that this is a pioneering development in Africa and the Arab world, underscoring “the accuracy and credibility of the results provided by this search engine.”

He further mentioned that the mobile versions (applications) of “NAJM.AI” are currently under development and are expected to be ready within three months. Additionally, he highlighted that both a free and a professional version of these mobile applications will be made available to users.