In today’s Saudi Arabia, artificial intelligence is equally tangible in plain sight but also quietly in the background. It powers the quick answers on a phone screen, but it is also steadily threading through boardrooms, classrooms, and public services. This momentum sits squarely within Saudi’s wider digital transformation drive while also being propelled by day-to-day practicality and real-world demand. In fact, AI tools are proving their value by shortening workflows, improving output quality, and automating repetitive tasks that quietly absorb time across every sector.
Recent studies bring the scale of this adoption into sharper focus. Local surveys suggest that around 49% of Saudis use AI tools regularly, a marked increase on previous years. Most users report a positive effect on both professional output and daily routines. Separate findings indicate that roughly 80% of adults have tried at least one AI tool, with close to one-third using them daily. At the organisational level, more than half of Saudi companies now rely on AI in day-to-day operations, signalling a shift from curiosity to routine integration.
This article maps the most widely used AI tools and their application across various categories in Saudi Arabia, while explaining what they are used for, why they matter, and how they are shaping the Kingdom’s evolving digital landscape.
1. ChatGPT: The Dominant Conversational AI Tool
ChatGPT, developed by OpenAI, is the clear front-runner among AI tools used in Saudi Arabia. It is widely preferred by individuals and companies for content writing, idea generation, translation, customer support, and interactive reporting.
Within Saudi Arabia, traffic-based analyses indicate that ChatGPT dominates the chatbot landscape with roughly 82% market share by the end of 2025. That scale matters because it shapes habit and language: the tool that becomes the default tends to define what “using AI” looks like for most people.
ChatGPT’s lead is tied to three practical strengths: speed, breadth of use cases, and multilingual performance. In a market where users frequently move between Arabic and English, that flexibility is not a feature. It is a requirement.
2. Google Gemini: A General-Purpose AI Assistant Embedded in Daily Life
Google’s Gemini has gained substantial traction in Saudi Arabia as a broad, all-purpose AI assistant, particularly on smartphones. It is commonly used for smart search, instant answers, text analysis, and routine task automation.
Local estimates suggest that Gemini accounts for 8–9% of chatbot usage in Saudi Arabia, positioning it as the second most used option after ChatGPT. It tends to resonate most with students, researchers, and professionals working within Google’s ecosystem, and where AI becomes an extension of the tools they use daily: search, documents, email workflows, and mobile productivity.
For many users, Gemini’s strength lies in how intrusively it integrates into the daily digital rhythm, becoming a tool that people use day by day.
3. Microsoft Copilot: AI Where Corporate Work Happens
Microsoft Copilot’s adoption is closely tied to institutional behaviour. For Saudi organisations that run on Microsoft 365, Copilot functions less like a separate tool and more like across the workplace stack.
It is used for drafting and structuring documents, improving language output, analysing spreadsheets, and generating PowerPoint presentations with greater speed. While its chatbot market share may be smaller than consumer-first tools, its strategic value is disproportionately high because it sits directly inside enterprise workflows.
In practical terms, Copilot’s appeal lies in its ability to adapt to existing workflows, improving output without requiring teams to change platforms.
4. AI-Driven Creative Tools: The Rise of Large-Scale Image and Video Production
Beyond chat and productivity assistants, Saudi Arabia has seen a sharp rise in AI-enabled creative tools used for design, marketing, and content publishing.
Two categories stand out:
Canva AI, which integrates AI into design workflows such as image editing, ad design, and rapid social content creation.
Text-to-video tools, used to convert written concepts into short-form video content suited to modern social platforms.
These tools are particularly popular among content creators, digital marketers, and small business owners who need strong visual output without the cost, time, or complexity of traditional production pipelines.
5. Arabic-focused AI tools: Language, Dialect, and Cultural Alignment
Alongside global platforms, there is rising demand for tools built specifically for Arabic language needs. These tools are commonly used for Arabic content writing, proofreading, rewriting, and stylistic enhancement with cultural sensitivity.
Saudi Arabia has also introduced locally developed chatbots built on large language models designed to perform more effectively in Arabic. These tools are put to use where language accuracy and cultural alignment matter most, including education-facing services and government applications.
This category reflects the tendency towards making AI speak the language people actually use, rather than translating into it.
6. Enterprise Analytics and Customer Experience Tools: AI Behind the Scenes
In sectors such as telecommunications, financial services, and e-commerce, AI adoption often happens behind the scenes, embedded in analytics and customer experience systems.
Companies use AI to interpret large datasets, forecast customer behaviour, improve ad targeting, and support faster decision-making. In operational environments, AI is less about conversation and more about prediction, segmentation, and optimisation.
This is where AI becomes structural: it shapes outcomes without being visible to the user.
7. Entertainment and Interactive Use: AI as A Consumer Habit
AI in Saudi Arabia also extends into entertainment and personal assistance, including interactive chat applications, AI-powered games, and voice assistants. These tools are increasingly becoming part of consumers’ lives, strengthening familiarity and comfort with AI-driven interaction.
Clear Adoption Trends in Saudi Arabia
Several signals are now difficult to ignore:
- Consistent usage where trial becomes habit: recent study shows that roughly half of the population uses AI tools regularly, with 80% having used AI tools at least once, and daily use becoming normalised for a substantial population segment.
- Organisations are operationalising AI: more than half of companies have moved past the initial discovery phase and are now actively deploying AI.
Conclusion: From Tool Adoption to a New Operating Layer
Artificial intelligence is becoming an integral part of daily digital life in Saudi Arabia, for individuals and institutions. From ChatGPT in conversational and content workflows, to Gemini and Copilot in integrated productivity environments, to creative tools reshaping how marketing content is produced, AI is increasingly acting as a practical operating tool for work, learning, and digital engagement.
Challenges remain, particularly around Arabic nuance, cultural context, and consistency in language output. Yet continued local development and increased market maturity suggest that these gaps are being actively addressed. Considering the deeper adoption across different sectors, the Kingdom’s AI scene is likely to be defined by these tools that quietly reshape how people work, communicate, and make decisions.
