US tech giants are contributing billions of dirhams to the UAE economy, with Google alone contributing about 1 per cent of the Emirates' gross domestic product according to the global tech company, reinforcing the country’s ambition to become a global hub for innovation.
Google contributed Dh21.8 billion ($5.93 billion) to the UAE's economy in 2024, the tech major said in its Economic Impact Report for the Emirates, released on Thursday. Google’s platforms, which include Search, Ads, Play, YouTube and Maps, support businesses, content creators, developers and government entities.
However, as their presence expands, a behavioural shift led by artificial intelligence tools is quietly reshaping how people work, search and consume information.
From cloud infrastructure and AI tools to payment platforms and productivity apps, companies such as Google, Microsoft and Apple are playing an increasingly central role in the UAE’s digital transformation.
Their growing footprint aligns with the country’s broader digital economy strategy, which aims to diversify income sources and position the country as a global leader in artificial intelligence.
Newly released economic impact reports from Google and Microsoft highlight the scale of this investment.
Google's report shows widespread adoption, with 94 per cent of adults in the UAE using Google Search at least once a month to compare prices, and 97 per cent of public sector workers crediting Google's AI tools with improving their productivity.
Microsoft’s projections take a longer view. A study released by the International Data Corporation during Dubai’s long-running technology exhibition, Gitex, last year, estimated that Microsoft and its partners will generate Dh273 billion in new revenue for the UAE by 2028. This is supported by Dh18.7 billion in data centre spending and the creation of more than 152,000 jobs.
This includes more than 41,800 skilled IT roles, further solidifying the UAE’s position as a hub for advanced digital services and innovation.
Attracting strategic investment
This surge in tech investment aligns with the UAE’s National Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2031, which aims to position the country among the top AI nations globally and have the technology contribute 20 per cent to non-oil GDP by 2031.
“This ambition has attracted US tech giants. In this regard, Microsoft has invested $1.5 billion in AI champion G42 and signed an agreement to implement a ‘sovereign cloud’ system for the Abu Dhabi government,” Louis Napoletani, founder and chief executive of Mottli, told The National.
Apple, while less prominent in cloud infrastructure and enterprise software, has invested more than Dh6 billion in the UAE over the past five years. The company now supports more than 38,000 jobs, with a growing focus on services such as Apple Pay and the iOS app ecosystem.
Changing user behaviour
While these legacy platforms continue to fuel economic growth and digital capacity-building, they are also operating in a changing landscape.
Users, particularly older generations, are increasingly adopting AI-powered assistants such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT for tasks traditionally performed through search engines.
OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman acknowledges that ChatGPT is used differently across age groups.
When asked recently at a Sequoia Capital AI Ascent event how young people use ChatGPT, he said: “Gross oversimplification, but older people use ChatGPT as a Google replacement. People in their twenties and thirties use it like a life adviser. And then people in college use it as an operating system.”
From answering questions and generating content to coding and research, ChatGPT has become a go-to tool for many professionals and students in the region.
Shift in how we search
This behavioural shift is beginning to challenge long-standing habits. Google’s report notes that 63 per cent of adults in the UAE have used Gemini, its own generative AI assistant.
While adoption is growing, various industry estimates suggest ChatGPT maintains a broader global user base, with about 500 million monthly app users compared to about 22 million for Gemini.
On the search side, “conversational AI could become a challenge” for the traditional search model, according to Mr Napoletani. “While Google still commanded 98.78 per cent of the UAE’s mobile search market as of May 2025, platforms like ChatGPT are gaining significant traction. User behaviour is shifting from link-based searches to direct, synthesised answers.
“The UAE is seeing strong adoption of AI on the user level as well, as shown by the 344 per cent year-on-year rise in generative AI course enrolments in 2025.”
Looking ahead
Microsoft has responded by integrating OpenAI’s technology into its products, including Bing and Copilot. Google is doing the same with Gemini across its suite.
The growing reliance on conversational AI tools suggests a more profound shift in how people seek and consume information, one that could reshape the future of search, discovery and workplace productivity.
As AI adoption accelerates and US tech companies cement their presence in the region, the UAE finds itself at the intersection of infrastructure, innovation and behavioural transformation.
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Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
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Rating: 3/5
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Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
Profile box
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Match info
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Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Eriksen 80')
Inter Milan 0
NBA Finals so far
(Toronto lead 3-1 in best-of-seven series_
Game 1 Raptors 118 Warriors 109
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Favourite vegetable: Broccoli
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Favourite book: Give and Take by Adam Grant, one of his professors at University of Pennsylvania
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Favourite place in the UAE: Al Qudra lakes
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Company Profile
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Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
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SERIES INFO
Cricket World Cup League Two
Nepal, Oman, United States tri-series
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Wednesday February 5, Oman v Nepal
Thursday, February 6, Oman v United States
Saturday, February 8, United States v Nepal
Sunday, February 9, Oman v Nepal
Tuesday, February 11, Oman v United States
Wednesday, February 12, United States v Nepal
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The top three sides advance to the 2022 World Cup Qualifier.
The bottom four sides are relegated to the 2022 World Cup playoff
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3 Namibia 7 4 3 0 0 8 0.008
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Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
