Dubai ranks in the top five world cities in a new report on the adoption of artificial intelligence, beating San Francisco, widely considered the birthplace of the modern tech industry.
Singapore took the top spot, according to Counterpoint Research, which sought to examine the affinity and readiness for AI among 100 of the world's largest metropolitan areas.
Seoul received the study's second highest AI score, followed by Beijing, Dubai, San Francisco, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Abu Dhabi.
The UAE is the only country from the Middle East with cities in the top 10 of the 2025 Global AI Cities Index.
"Counterpoint analysed over 5,000 initiatives in the private and public sectors, strength of communications infrastructure, data centre and supercomputing initiatives, university output and strength of the start-up ecosystem, among other factors," the report said.
Marc Einstein, a research director for Counterpoint, said Dubai "has an AI strategist in every government department".
"All teachers are now being given AI training and they have a programme to train one million AI engineers," with Abu Dhabi "not far behind", he said.
Mr Einstein said as a whole the Middle East is a region to watch in terms of AI adoption.
He said that while cities in North America remain in the lead in the global AI race, China was starting to close the gap.
Regulatory hurdles were blunting AI development in Europe, he said.
Counterpoint Research's analysis on the Middle East echoes a report by the international Monetary Fund that indicated AI could help to boost gross domestic product by as much as 35 per cent in the UAE by 2030, and that the fast-developing technology could make up at least 12 per cent of Saudi Arabia's GDP.
The UAE − the Arab world’s second-largest economy − has expressed the desire to be an AI front-runner as it diversifies its economy from oil.
The country’s push has resulted in the establishment of start-ups, partnerships and investments from industry leaders such as Microsoft, Nvidia and OpenAI.
Those types of investments also played a large role in Counterpoint's rankings.
"In the 2025 AI City Index report, Microsoft emerged as the most active vendor as the company expanded its AI data centre footprint significantly, engaged in several AI training initiatives, and set up new AI innovation hubs," read the report.
Counterpoint also said US-based Nvidia's partnerships with Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company, the Dubai operator known as du, helped propel the city's ranking in the recent study.
The UAE's investments in AI have also led to the creation of language models such as Falcon Arabic, part of an effort to ensure aspects of Arabic culture are not left behind in the AI surge, as many large language models were initially based on English language data.
In 2019, the UAE announced the establishment of a university dedicated to AI, Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence.
Two years earlier, the Emirates was among the first country in the world to appoint an AI Minister, Omar Al Olama.
This month, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, introduced a new classification system with "icons" to indicate when AI has been used in research and publications.
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First car: VW Golf
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Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
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Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
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Explainer: Tanween Design Programme
Non-profit arts studio Tashkeel launched this annual initiative with the intention of supporting budding designers in the UAE. This year, three talents were chosen from hundreds of applicants to be a part of the sixth creative development programme. These are architect Abdulla Al Mulla, interior designer Lana El Samman and graphic designer Yara Habib.
The trio have been guided by experts from the industry over the course of nine months, as they developed their own products that merge their unique styles with traditional elements of Emirati design. This includes laboratory sessions, experimental and collaborative practice, investigation of new business models and evaluation.
It is led by British contemporary design project specialist Helen Voce and mentor Kevin Badni, and offers participants access to experts from across the world, including the likes of UK designer Gareth Neal and multidisciplinary designer and entrepreneur, Sheikh Salem Al Qassimi.
The final pieces are being revealed in a worldwide limited-edition release on the first day of Downtown Designs at Dubai Design Week 2019. Tashkeel will be at stand E31 at the exhibition.
Lisa Ball-Lechgar, deputy director of Tashkeel, said: “The diversity and calibre of the applicants this year … is reflective of the dynamic change that the UAE art and design industry is witnessing, with young creators resolute in making their bold design ideas a reality.”
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
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Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
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Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
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Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
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Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Test
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Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
