No longer just a regional tech hub, the UAE is emerging as a global convener of ethics, with the intention to balance regulatory philosophies with un-encumbered potential in AI-led innovation.
While the recent Governance of Emerging Technologies Summit (GETS) 2025 in Abu Dhabi drew headlines for its scale and global reach—with over 1,000 participants from more than 20 countries, including policymakers, legal experts, technologists, and youth leaders—it’s only one piece of a larger play. The UAE is leveraging events like GETS and the World Government Summit (WGS) to elevate conversations from policy white papers to international cooperation.
These forums are more than networking events. They are spaces where regulators, ethicists, technologists, and political leaders engage in the hard conversations—about algorithmic transparency, AI in warfare, public trust, and the urgent need for global coordination.
The UAE appears to be positioning itself as a host that can encourage dialogue with credibility and neutrality.
What distinguishes the UAE is its decisive shift from theoretical dialogue to policy execution. At GETS 2025, UAE Attorney General Dr. Hamad Saif Al Shamsi unveiled the AI Strategy 2025–2030 for the justice sector.
The plan aims to integrate AI in a way that enhances transparency, ethical oversight, and operational efficiency.
“Innovation without ethics is incomplete. The future of emerging technologies must be guided not only by advancement, but by a higher purpose—serving humanity and society,” said Dr. Al Shamsi.
This alignment of technology with legal foresight is what gives the UAE unique influence in an arena often dominated by superpowers.
To foster trust, the UAE has rooted its governance approach in globally recognized standards. It was one of the first countries to adopt ISO 42001, the international AI management standard. It also introduced the UAE AI Charter, a 12-principle guide anchored in values such as fairness, explainability, inclusivity, and accountability.
Public sector institutions like Emirates Health Services and the Technology Innovation Institute are leading by example—certifying systems under ISO/IEC 42001 and open-sourcing models like Falcon LLM, respectively. These are bold moves in a region where AI tools are often guarded and proprietary.
Crucially, the UAE’s efforts do not exist in a vacuum. International bodies like UNESCO and the European Union (EU) are also contributing to the global AI governance landscape:
UNESCO’s 2021 Recommendation on the Ethics of AI stands as the first global normative framework on AI, emphasizing transparency, accountability, and human rights. The UAE’s policies resonate closely with these principles.
The EU AI Act, passed in 2024, has become a benchmark for risk-based regulation, focusing on high-risk systems, biometric surveillance, and AI’s societal impact.
Its call for traceability, documentation, and rights protection found clear echoes at UAE-hosted events.
The UAE’s value lies in bridging these global efforts. It has emerged as a diplomatic actor in the AI age—not siding with the techno-liberalism of Silicon Valley, the heavy-handed state models of East Asia, or the risk-averse bureaucracy of Brussels—but crafting a unique, adaptable approach.
Several high-level UAE leaders have used global stages to articulate this vision:
Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence and a founding member of the World Economic Forum’s AI Governance Alliance, continues to champion ethical AI at both domestic and international levels. “The UAE recognized early on the importance of shaping AI’s future through bold action and responsible governance,” he noted.
Sarah Al Amiri, Minister of Education, emphasized strategic investments in AI education to build resilient, future-ready societies.
HE Faisal Al Bannai, Secretary General of the Advanced Technology Research Council, pointedly stated: “Tech organizations must take some responsibility for the technologies they release. It cannot be that they issue it and let society deal with the consequences. This requires strong, ongoing collaboration between technology players and regulators.”
At the World Government Summit 2025, Klaus Schwab, Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, lauded the UAE’s leadership, urging governments to act as “governance architects” for AI and emerging technologies.
“What we are seeing today as international efforts is not enough. We need a coordinated global process to make sure that those technologies are constructive,” Schwab asserted.
Beyond policy, the UAE is laying long-term foundations. The Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) is one of the world’s only postgraduate AI universities. It’s attracting global talent, enabling research in AI ethics, and contributing to policy thought leadership.
Through its sovereign tech funds and public-private partnerships, the UAE is also investing in open-source innovation, cross-border AI policy labs, and interdisciplinary research centres that bridge law, ethics, and computation.
