Prime Highlights-
- World Bank names UAE among global leaders building advanced foundation AI models.
- UAE ranks first globally for net inflows of leading AI authors, inventors.
Key Facts-
- UAE features among top 10 countries worldwide for ChatGPT usage per internet users.
- Falcon AI models, developed by Technology Innovation Institute, rank among top open-source models.
Background-
The World Bank counts the UAE among the world’s leading emerging powers in artificial intelligence. Its assessment cites years of steady investment, a mature policy framework, and growing skill in designing advanced AI systems. The country has pulled in skilled workers from abroad and pushed adoption wider across its economy at the same time.
Titled “The Promise of Artificial Intelligence,” the Bank’s World Development Report 2026 places the UAE in a small group of nations making genuine headway in building advanced foundation AI models independently.
The report singles out the country’s Falcon series of large language models, built by the Technology Innovation Institute. It calls the institute a frontrunner among developers of open-source, open-weight AI systems, tools that researchers and developers anywhere can access and adapt for free.
Drawing AI talent has become another UAE strength. Alongside Luxembourg, Australia, Saudi Arabia, and Switzerland, the country posted one of the strongest net gains in AI professionals per 10,000 LinkedIn members during 2025, drawing on figures from the 2026 AI Index.
It took the top global rank for net gains in leading AI authors and inventors, scoring 2.58, a sharp shift from its average standing across 2011 to 2024. Residency incentives aimed at specialists in machine learning, model design, and AI engineering account for part of that shift.
Generative AI use tells a similar story. The report puts the UAE in the global top 10 for ChatGPT usage measured against internet user numbers, pointing to fast, widespread adoption among individuals and companies.
The country has folded AI literacy into its national education standards, introduced chief AI officer roles across government bodies, and set up one federal authority to oversee artificial intelligence, data, and digital governance.
Nations looking to move past simply adopting AI can look to the UAE as a working example, the Bank said, of how a country builds and shapes the technology at home to fit its own language and economic needs.
