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The Emirates Intelligencer

An Independent Daily Bulletin on Artificial-Intelligence Investment, Adoption and Deployment. Published by otonomi.co

Vol. I., No. 109 Sunday, November 8, 2026 From the Archive
AI-Native Government
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Abu Dhabi Signs Four OpenAI Agreements Across Energy, Government and Investment

The accords make ADNOC the first energy company to deploy OpenAI's frontier models in-country and set Abu Dhabi's regulators on a path toward machine-readable government.

By The Otonomi Investment Desk

Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, has met Sam Altman, chief executive of OpenAI, and witnessed the signing of four agreements between Abu Dhabi entities and the artificial intelligence company, spanning the government, energy and investment sectors. The meeting examined how advanced AI can accelerate government transformation and innovation across the emirate's strategic sectors, in line with Abu Dhabi's ambition to become the world's first fully AI-native government. Altman said Abu Dhabi and the UAE are setting a bold global standard for AI integration across the public and private sectors to make sure the benefits of AI reach everyone.

ADNOC, G42 through its subsidiary Inception42, and OpenAI signed an agreement making ADNOC the first company in the energy sector to deploy OpenAI's frontier technology, running on GPT models using in-country inference infrastructure in the UAE. Abu Dhabi Government and OpenAI also launched the world's first AI-native Machine-Readable Government initiative, which translates a defined set of government policies and regulations into machine-readable form so AI systems can assist officials with routine regulatory compliance assessments, including those related to issuing permits and certificates. Each assessment remains traceable to the governing rule, and officials retain oversight and accountability for final decisions. Led by the Department of Government Enablement, the initiative's first pilot is already in production with the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority, focused on food imports.

In the investment sector, Mubadala, Inception42 and OpenAI agreed to apply advanced AI capabilities to investment analysis, opportunity identification and risk assessment, supporting more informed investment decisions and long-term value creation. Inception42 and OpenAI additionally signed a five-year agreement to enable the adoption of frontier AI across government, enterprise and education, pairing OpenAI's frontier models and AI engineering expertise with Inception42's applied AI capabilities and consultancy-led professional services programmes for large UAE organisations.

Abu Dhabi Media Office Read original source

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Research Infrastructure

Dubai Unveils Nad Zabeel, a Campus for Its AI and Robotics Future

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has witnessed the announcement of Nad Zabeel, Dubai's Future RDI Campus, a research, development and innovation landmark launched by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Dubai Future Foundation. To be built in Zabeel Park under the supervision of Dubai Future Foundation, with construction and associated operations expected to be completed within five years, the campus will house laboratories, scientific and research centres and creative and innovation incubators serving sectors including artificial intelligence, robotics, advanced technology, urban technologies and health and environmental technologies.

The campus will host leading global technology companies, academic institutions and government entities alongside promising start-ups and investors, with accelerator and incubator programmes expected to draw more than 30,000 scientists, researchers and entrepreneurs to its programmes and events annually. Mohammad Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and Managing Director of Dubai Future Foundation, said Nad Zabeel establishes research and development as a key driver of progress and economic opportunity by bringing researchers, universities, technology companies, investors and government entities together in one environment. The project supports the Dubai Economic Agenda D33, which aims to double the size of the emirate's economy by 2033.

UAE Media Office Read original source
Startup Programmes

Hub71 Takes In Record Class of 40 Startups, Nine in Ten Built on AI

Hub71, Abu Dhabi's global tech ecosystem, has selected 40 startups for Cohort 19, its largest intake to date, from a record 2,502 applications received from 117 countries, an acceptance rate of 1.6 percent. The selected companies, drawn from 14 countries with 88 percent joining from international markets, have collectively raised $296 million (Dh1.09 billion), and 90 percent incorporate artificial intelligence at the core of their technologies. The cohort brings the number of startups in Hub71's ecosystem to 644.

Twelve companies enter the sector-agnostic track of the 12-month Access Programme, 19 join the Hub71+ Digital Assets, ClimateTech and Life Sciences specialist ecosystems, six were selected through the Anjal Z programme delivered with the Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority, and three join through a new pathway into Abu Dhabi's Smart and Autonomous Vehicles Industry cluster, the first intake through that route. Ahmad Ali Alwan, Chief Executive of Hub71, said the cohort reflects the growing depth and maturity of the companies joining the hub. Participants receive tailored mentorship and access to investors, corporate and government partners, alongside up to Dh500,000 in incentives.

WAM Read original source
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Further Dispatches
Financial Services

Seven in Ten DIFC Financial Firms Now Use AI, Regulator Survey Finds

Artificial intelligence use among firms authorised by the Dubai Financial Services Authority has more than doubled since 2024, with 71 percent of surveyed firms reporting use of at least one form of AI in 2026, compared with 52 percent in 2025 and 33 percent in 2024, according to the regulator's annual AI Survey, now in its third year. Reported use of generative AI rose from 22 percent in 2024 to 67 percent in 2026, and 84 percent of respondents expect their use of AI to increase over the next three years.

The survey of firms in the Dubai International Financial Centre also captured emerging activity around AI agents, with 53 percent of respondents exploring, testing, piloting or deploying them, although only 14 percent have reached deployment stage. Among firms using AI, 61 percent reported having an AI governance framework, 53 percent had organisational policies governing its use, and 28 percent said such policies were under development. The regulator said it will use the findings to inform its risk-based supervision, including assessments of material AI use, governance and third-party dependencies.

DFSA Read original source
Sovereign Capital

EQT Seeks Joint AI and Data Centre Deals With Gulf Sovereign Investors

EQT, Europe's largest private markets investment firm with $400 billion in assets, is in talks with sovereign investors in the UAE and Saudi Arabia over joint artificial intelligence and infrastructure investments, its global chair Jean Eric Salata said. The Stockholm-headquartered firm plans to expand its Gulf footprint through EdgeConneX, its portfolio company operating more than 106 data centres across 25 countries, and counts the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority among its most important partners, co-investing with the fund on some of its largest deals to take companies private in Europe.

The Gulf's three largest economies have announced AI investment plans worth $120 billion, exceeding 5 percent of their combined gross domestic product, according to International Monetary Fund estimates, with the UAE's programme including a planned five-gigawatt UAE-US AI campus in Abu Dhabi anchored by Stargate UAE, a one-gigawatt computing cluster backed by a $20 billion data centre investment. Salata said the key constraint in the AI build-out is physical, spanning chips, energy and data centres, which he described as an opportunity for providers of long-term capital able to invest on a fifteen-year horizon.

The National Read original source
Global AI in Action
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