The GCC Journal

The UAE’s National AI Strategy 2031: What It Actually Says

A $96 billion economic target, the world’s first AI minister, a $100 billion investment vehicle, and a plan to make artificial intelligence the foundation of a post-oil economy

In 2017, the UAE appointed the world’s first Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence. That same year, it unveiled the National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence 2031, a comprehensive roadmap designed to embed AI across every sector of the economy. Eight years later, the strategy is no longer a document; it is an operating system. The UAE has created a $100 billion AI investment vehicle, built sovereign large language models, partnered with OpenAI, Microsoft, and NVIDIA on the largest AI campus outside the United States, and set a target of growing AI’s contribution to GDP from roughly 9% to as much as 45% by 2031, an estimated AED 335 billion ($96 billion) in economic value.

Here is what the strategy involves, how it’s being funded, and what it means for businesses operating in the Gulf.

The Strategy

Four pillars, one overarching mandate

Adopted by the Cabinet in 2019 and overseen by the Emirates Council for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Transactions, the strategy sets one overarching mandate: transform the UAE into a global hub for responsible AI while advancing the broader Centennial 2071 vision. It rests on four pillars. First, economic impact: grow AI’s share of non-oil GDP to 20% by 2031 (some government strategists have cited a more ambitious 45% target for overall GDP contribution). Second, talent: train 10,000 UAE-based data scientists and machine learning engineers, backed by golden visas for international AI experts. Third, smart government: reach 100% paperless public services across all emirates. Fourth, sustainability: power every new hyperscale data center with renewable energy, aligned with the nation’s Net-Zero 2050 pledge.

The Money

MGX, G42, and the sovereign capital behind the strategy

The financial infrastructure behind the AI strategy is staggering. In March 2024, Mubadala, G42, and the Abu Dhabi Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Technology Council launched MGX, a technology investment vehicle expected to reach $100 billion in assets. MGX’s three focus areas are AI infrastructure (data centers and connectivity), semiconductors (chip design and manufacturing), and core AI technologies (models, software, data, robotics, and life sciences). Within months of its launch, MGX had co-founded the $500 billion Stargate US project with OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank, and partnered with BlackRock, Global Infrastructure Partners, and Microsoft on a separate $100 billion AI infrastructure fund.

G42, the Abu Dhabi-based AI holding company chaired by Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan (the UAE’s National Security Advisor), sits at the center of the execution. Microsoft invested $1.5 billion in G42 in April 2024, integrating Azure cloud services across the UAE and building a sovereign cloud platform. G42 has also partnered with NVIDIA to build “AI factories” using next-generation Blackwell chips, with Italy’s iGenius to build Europe’s largest AI computing infrastructure, and with France’s Mistral AI on AI platforms and infrastructure. The company was named to TIME’s 100 Most Influential Companies list in 2025 as a “Rising AI Power.”

Stargate UAE

The largest AI campus outside the United States

The most visible physical manifestation of the strategy is Stargate UAE, a 5-gigawatt AI campus being developed by G42 with OpenAI, Oracle, NVIDIA, Cisco, and SoftBank. Planned across 10 square miles in Abu Dhabi, the campus includes a 1-gigawatt data center powered by 2.5 million of NVIDIA’s most advanced chips, with an initial 200-megawatt cluster coming online in 2026. It is the largest AI infrastructure project outside the United States and a direct extension of the broader Stargate vision.

The Sovereignty Stack

Falcon, sovereign cloud, and data residency

The UAE is not simply importing AI from Silicon Valley. It is building what analysts describe as a “sovereignty stack,” a combination of homegrown AI models, sovereign cloud platforms, and data residency rules that give the country genuine technological independence. The centerpiece is Falcon, a family of large language models developed by Abu Dhabi’s Technology Innovation Institute (TII) in 2022. Falcon was one of the first competitive open-source LLMs and established the UAE as a credible player in foundation model development. Alongside Falcon, G42 has developed Jais, an Arabic-first LLM optimized for regional languages and compliance requirements.

The sovereign cloud infrastructure being built with Microsoft ensures that sensitive government and enterprise data remains within UAE borders, subject to UAE law. For businesses operating in regulated sectors (finance, healthcare, government), this combination of local AI models, local cloud infrastructure, and local data residency rules is increasingly becoming a competitive requirement, not just a policy preference.

Dubai as Proving Ground

Autonomous transport, digital twins, and the AI-native city

Dubai is where the national strategy meets the street. The Dubai Autonomous Transportation Strategy targets 25% of all journeys to be autonomous by 2030, with driverless taxis, AI-routed buses, and pilot drone-taxi corridors already in testing. Digital-twin models of entire districts monitor energy consumption, traffic flow, and air quality in real time. The city has already achieved its paperless government milestone (in 2021), and it hosts AI Everything Abu Dhabi alongside a growing cluster of AI-focused events and accelerators.

The Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), established in Abu Dhabi in 2019 as the world’s first graduate-level AI university, is producing the research talent that feeds the ecosystem. The National Experts Programme launched a dedicated AI track (NEP-AI) in January 2026, with the first cohort beginning in May 2026. And the free zones most relevant to AI businesses, including ADGM, DIFC, Dubai Internet City, Dubai Silicon Oasis, and Masdar City, each offer infrastructure tailored to technology companies, from regulatory sandboxes to compute resources.

Governance and Ethics

12 ethical principles and a growing regulatory framework

The UAE has been building its AI governance framework alongside its investment push. The UAE Charter for the Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence, issued in June 2024, outlines 12 ethical principles covering safety, algorithmic bias mitigation, data privacy, transparency, human oversight, and accountability. Abu Dhabi formally established the Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Technology Council (AIATC) by law in January 2024, tasked with regulating AI projects, research, infrastructure, and investment within the emirate. The DIFC will host the 48th annual Global Privacy Assembly in late 2026, the first time the event has been held in the region, reflecting the Gulf’s growing role in global data protection and AI governance.

The Bigger Picture

Converting resource wealth into data wealth

The UAE’s AI strategy is worth understanding not because the headline numbers are large (they are) but because the execution infrastructure behind those numbers is genuinely unusual. Few countries have simultaneously built a sovereign AI model, a $100 billion investment vehicle, a dedicated AI university, a national ethics charter, a 5-gigawatt compute campus, and partnerships with virtually every major American technology company, all within an eight-year window. The speed of deployment reflects a governance model that can move faster than most democracies, and the sovereign wealth behind it provides capital at a scale that most venture ecosystems cannot match.

For businesses operating in the GCC, the practical implications are significant. AI-native government services are becoming the norm, not the exception. Sovereign data residency requirements are shaping where and how companies deploy technology. Free zones like ADGM and DIFC are evolving their regulatory frameworks to accommodate AI-driven financial services. And the talent pipeline, through MBZUAI, NEP-AI, and golden visa incentives, is creating a concentration of AI expertise in a geography that had almost none a decade ago. Whether or not the $96 billion target lands precisely, the UAE’s AI strategy is reshaping the operating environment for every sector in the country, and increasingly, across the Gulf.