Dubai outstrips San Francisco for AI adoption and usage, report finds

Abu Dhabi also makes top 10 for artificial intelligence projects

Counterpoint Research gives UAE cities high marks in terms of AI adoption. Photo: Cody Combs

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.

Singapore is followed by Seoul, Beijing, Dubai and San Francisco in a study ranking cities around the world in terms of AI adoption. Chart: Counterpoint Research

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.

Omar Al Olama, Minister of State for AI, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications. Photo: Cody Combs / The National

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.

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, recently announced new icon designs aimed at AI transparency. Photo: Dubai Future Foundation

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.