The UAE has received favourable recognition in the World Bank Group’s World Development Report 2026: The Promise of Artificial Intelligence. The report highlights the country’s progress in AI development, adoption, talent attraction and government policy.
- UAE builds sovereign AI models with Falcon
- UAE ranks among top countries for ChatGPT use
- UAE attracts AI talent from global markets
- AI skills become part of UAE national competency framework
- UAE strengthens government AI leadership
- UAE ranks 10th for net flow of top AI talent
- Global AI investment puts UAE ambitions in context
- What the World Bank report means for the UAE
Rather than rank countries as overall AI leaders, the World Bank examines how economies are using and building AI. Against this wider measure, the UAE appears across several parts of the report.
The country is cited as an AI model builder, a destination for global talent and an early adopter of generative AI.
UAE builds sovereign AI models with Falcon
The World Bank highlights Abu Dhabi’s Technology Innovation Institute (TII) for developing the Falcon family of AI models.
TII has trained Falcon models further on Arabic and regional dialects. This gives the UAE a role in developing AI models that reflect local language and regional needs.
The report also places Falcon among a small group of examples from emerging economies that have built AI models rather than simply adapting models created elsewhere.
This marks an important step in the UAE’s wider push to build domestic AI capabilities.
UAE ranks among top countries for ChatGPT use
The UAE also stands out for its use of generative AI.
According to the World Bank report, the UAE ranks among the top 20 countries for ChatGPT use per internet user. This places the country well ahead of the low single-digit adoption rates recorded across many middle-income economies.
The figure points to strong interest in generative AI among users in the UAE.
At the same time, high adoption does not automatically mean high economic impact. Businesses and governments still need the right skills, infrastructure and policies to turn AI use into productivity gains.
UAE attracts AI talent from global markets
Talent is another area where the UAE receives positive attention.
The report cites data showing that the UAE recorded one of the highest net inflows of AI workers per 10,000 LinkedIn members in 2025. Luxembourg, Australia, Saudi Arabia and Switzerland also recorded strong inflows.
The UAE has used long-term residency incentives to attract AI specialists. These policies form part of a broader strategy to bring global talent and investment into the country’s technology ecosystem.
For employers, this could strengthen the available pool of workers with AI and digital skills.
AI skills become part of UAE national competency framework
The UAE is also working to build AI skills among its wider workforce.
The World Bank cites the country for including AI literacy in its national competency framework. This approach links AI adoption with basic skills development.
As a result, the UAE is not focusing only on advanced AI researchers. It is also looking at how workers can develop the skills needed to use AI in everyday jobs.
This could become increasingly important as AI tools spread across sectors and job roles.
UAE strengthens government AI leadership
The UAE has also taken steps to build AI capacity within government.
The report highlights the appointment of AI executive leaders across federal entities. It also points to the creation of a unified federal authority covering AI, data and digital government.
According to the World Bank, such institutional capacity can help governments test, purchase and scale AI tools more effectively.
For the UAE, these measures support a more coordinated approach to public-sector AI adoption.
UAE ranks 10th for net flow of top AI talent
Despite its progress, the UAE still has a smaller base of frontier AI research talent than major AI powers.
The World Bank report places the UAE 10th globally on its measure of the net flow of top AI authors and inventors between 2011 and 2024. The UAE recorded a score of 1.
The United States ranked first with a score of 197. The UK recorded 2, while Germany and Canada recorded 17 and 13, respectively.
The figures suggest that the UAE’s AI strength currently rests more on adoption, talent attraction and policy than on the scale of its frontier research community.
Global AI investment puts UAE ambitions in context
The report also highlights the scale of global investment in AI infrastructure.
Leading technology companies, including Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft and Oracle, are projected to spend $572 billion in capital expenditure in 2026.
The World Bank notes that this amount exceeds the nominal GDP of several countries, including the UAE.
For the Emirates, this underlines both the scale of the global AI race and the opportunity ahead. The country is positioning itself within a fast-growing AI ecosystem that spans infrastructure, models, talent and enterprise adoption.
What the World Bank report means for the UAE
The report does not label the UAE as the world’s leading AI economy. Instead, its repeated references show the breadth of the country’s AI strategy.
The UAE is building its own models. It is attracting AI professionals. It is also expanding AI literacy and strengthening government capabilities.
Taken together, these efforts show a strategy that goes beyond simply adopting AI tools.
For the UAE, the next challenge will be turning this strong foundation into wider productivity gains, stronger research capabilities and sustained economic growth.
