Ramaphosa to meet Silicon Valley AI giants as South Africa eyes tech future

President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that he will lead a delegation to Silicon Valley in the United States to explore new opportunities in artificial intelligence (AI).

After the elections, I will be leading a group of people from government, from universities, young people and all, and business, and will take along some of my comrades as well to the Silicon Valley, just to go and meet those big moguls of artificial intelligence, to get to understand exactly how it functions and how we can utilise it to our own benefit.

The planned visit comes as governments and industries grapple with the opportunities and risks presented by increasingly sophisticated AI tools, from automating tasks and analysing information to bridging the country’s digital gap and creating employment opportunities in the sector.