AI Retreat opens in Dubai
21 Apr 2025 20:18
DUBAI (WAM)Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications, a member of the Board of Trustees of Dubai Future Foundation and Deputy Managing Director of the Foundation, said today the UAE has turned AI opportunities into reality and proactively empowered industries with all the elements that allow them to accelerate the adoption of AI and its applications in various fields.He was speaking at the opening ceremony of the AI Retreat, which was attended by 150 government officials and experts as part of the Dubai Artificial Intelligence Week, held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the UAE and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Dubai Future Foundation, and witnessed the participation of more than 10,000 experts, decision makers, innovators, AI pioneers, and officials from more than 100 countries around the world.Delivering the opening keynote at the Dubai AI Retreat, titled 'The Next 5-10 Years - A Force Multiplier of a Nation's Potential', he told a room of AI experts and leaders about the UAE's ethos on AI.The AI Retreat is taking place at the Museum of the Future as part of Dubai AI Week. The retreat witnessed the participation of over 150 government officials and global experts, and included four closed roundtable discussions focused on data and governance, digital infrastructure, economy and investment, and talent development.Participants discussed key relevant policies and legislation, explored the opportunities provided by AI applications, and outlined strategies to amplify their positive developmental impact across vital sectors.'Every single conversation about AI that takes place across the world today talks about two paradigms: innovation and regulation … There is another paradigm that most people don't talk about, but that we in the UAE have adopted as our ethos when it comes to pushing this technology forward. And that is: acceleration.'He continued, 'We believe that we should not compromise regulation for the sake of innovation, but we should focus on accelerating the use of this technology in the best way possible.'Al Olama also described how AI can best be deployed to improve lives. 'This is the AI that we want in the UAE, and that is the AI that we think is done right.It is AI that is frictionless,' Al Olma noted.He also said the most successful businesses in the UAE were those that embrace emerging technologies, adding, 'Every single unicorn that has come out of the UAE is an AI-first company. And every single company that is going to be launched in this country going forward needs to be an AI-first company."
Key events of the week include the AI Retreat, Dubai Assembly for AI, Global Prompt Engineering Championship, Dubai AI Festival, Machines Can See summit, AI Week in Schools, 8th edition of the International Conference on Education Quality, HIMSS Executive Summit Dubai, and Hackathon: Agentic AI.
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