The United Arab Emirates and Artificial Intelligence

In the United Arab Emirates, artificial intelligence has swiftly emerged as one of the central themes in public debate. The country aspires to position itself both as a hub of technological innovation and as a leading actor in the global governance of AI. Yet the subject is also surrounded by considerable noise. Hyperbolic narratives and fundamentally misleading accounts have become increasingly pervasive. For this reason, any serious discussion of AI in the Emirates requires a careful distinction between propaganda and the transformations that are genuinely underway.

To properly situate the Emirati positioning, it is essential to outline the main elements of its regulatory and strategic framework. The first key reference is the UAE Strategy for Artificial Intelligence. In this document, AI is framed as a driver of economic growth and as a tool to enhance state capacity, improve the efficiency of public services, and unlock new high-value markets. This reflects a broader vision of national transformation, one that explicitly links artificial intelligence to the country’s long-term development trajectory, most notably the goals set out in UAE Centennial 2071, the flagship project through which the United Arab Emirates envisions its political and economic future.

A second document complements this framework, one that is more explicitly political and internationally oriented. In September 2024, the UAE's International Stance on Artificial Intelligence Policy was published. It builds on the objectives of the previous phase but introduces an additional layer of nuance. In this case, the country explicitly signals its ambition to play a role in shaping the global rules governing the development of AI. The document frames artificial intelligence not only in terms of economic development and diversification, but also as a means of improving quality of life and strengthening international cooperation. In doing so, the Emirates seek to position themselves as an actor capable of influencing the global debate on AI governance.

But what does this look like in practice? In what ways is artificial intelligence reshaping the Emirati political and social landscape?

An important first step dates back to 2017, when the UAE Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence was created, marking the establishment of a dedicated governmental portfolio for artificial intelligence - a move that at the time attracted significant international attention. In 2020, the role was expanded and renamed the UAE Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications. It is held by Omar Sultan Al Olama, who has since become a central figure within the Emirati innovation ecosystem. Alongside it, the UAE Artificial Intelligence Office plays a coordinating and steering role, ensuring alignment across public initiatives and government institutions.

The most interesting phase, however, is the most recent one. In April 2025, the Emirati Cabinet approved the launch of the Regulatory Intelligence Ecosystem, described as the first integrated ecosystem of its kind within government structures. In this framework, AI is no longer presented merely as a tool for improving public services or boosting economic performance, but is directly embedded within the legislative process itself. The stated objective is to integrate federal and local legislation, judicial rulings, executive procedures, and public services into a single system capable of monitoring, in real time, the impact of regulation on the economy and society, identifying inconsistencies or regulatory gaps, and proposing updates. At the same time, a Regulatory Intelligence Office (UAE) was established within the Cabinet, tasked with designing and coordinating the system. What emerges is a clearly defined vision of the state: one that seeks to govern more quickly, adapt more rapidly, and leverage artificial intelligence to make law less static and more responsive. Among the most ambitious claims is precisely the promise of accelerating the legislative process by up to 70 percent.

In January 2026, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, this vision was further developed with the publication of the white paper The UAE: Shaping the Future of Regulatory Intelligence, from a static rulebook to a living, AI-powered regulatory ecosystem. The document is particularly significant in that it seeks to outline a kind of foundational “grammar” for the project. It introduces concepts such as a Regulatory Intelligence Glossary, designed to establish a common language between legislators, policymakers, and developers; a Unified Regulatory Digital Twin, a digital replica of the regulatory system capable of tracking changes in real time, simulating economic and social impacts, and proposing legislative adjustments; and, most importantly, the Sovereign Governance-in-the-Loop framework, which stresses that AI must remain an assistive tool rather than a substitute for the legislator. The white paper also highlights the emergence of future hybrid professional profiles, operating at the intersection of law and technology. What is increasingly clear is that the transformation concerns not only the functioning of the state itself, but also the very profile of those responsible for making it function.

As artificial intelligence has assumed an increasingly central role in the United Arab Emirates’ political and social landscape, its reach has naturally extended into the fields of education and research. In recent years, the Emirates have made significant investments in building an academic ecosystem capable of training a future ruling and managerial elite equipped to navigate the challenges of this transformation. A flagship initiative in this regard is the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence. The university is conceived as a fully AI-focused institution, with programmes designed both to advance cutting-edge research and to train highly specialised profiles capable of applying advanced knowledge to concrete challenges. Through this model, the country seeks to strengthen its position in the global research landscape, attract international talent, and consolidate its image as a hub for the production of expertise, standards, and capabilities in the field of artificial intelligence.

In conclusion, for the United Arab Emirates, artificial intelligence is far more than an advanced technology. It is a driver of economic development, a tool of modernisation, a source of international prestige, and—more and more clearly—a blank canvas on which to experiment with new models of governance. For this reason, the subject must be approached with caution. Yet, beyond the frequent exaggerations that circulate, one point remains clear: in the Emirates, artificial intelligence is already reshaping government, the legislative process, investment strategies, education and training, as well as the country’s vision of its own future.

Translated by Iuliana Cindrea

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