Latest news with #MBZUAI
Daily Tribune
6 hours ago
- Business
- Daily Tribune
Abu Dhabi Emerges as a Global Hub for Artificial Intelligence Innovation
Abu Dhabi's artificial intelligence (AI) sector is growing at an incredible pace, making the emirate a leading global center for AI development and innovation. Recent data from the Abu Dhabi Chamber reveals that the number of AI companies in the city has jumped by 61% from June 2023 to June 2024, now totaling 673 firms. With around 90,900 AI companies worldwide, Abu Dhabi's growing cluster stands out as one of the fastest expanding in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, and increasingly important on the global stage. One key to this success is the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), the world's first graduate-level university focused entirely on AI research. MBZUAI attracts top talent from around the world and is highly ranked for its research in areas like machine learning, robotics, and natural language processing. This shows Abu Dhabi's strong commitment to innovation and building a skilled AI workforce. Abu Dhabi's AI progress is also supported by several specialized organizations, such as the Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Technology Council (AIATC), the Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC), and the Technology Innovation Institute (TII), among others. These institutions work together to push AI forward in vital sectors like healthcare, logistics, finance, and education. Both TII and MBZUAI are making breakthroughs in open-source AI models, which benefit researchers and developers worldwide. More than half of Abu Dhabi's AI companies focus on research, innovation, and consultancy—proof of a mature and research-driven ecosystem. Just in the first half of 2025, 150 new AI companies were launched, fueled by strategic investments and growing demand across different industries. His Excellency Shamis Ali Khalfan Al Dhaheri, Second Vice Chairman and Managing Director of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said, 'Abu Dhabi's AI sector is moving beyond early adoption into real-world transformation. We're seeing more activity in research, strategic consulting, and enterprise solutions. This growth is about more than just numbers—it reflects a vibrant community of entrepreneurs, scientists, and global leaders who view Abu Dhabi as a hotspot for cutting-edge technology.' He added, 'What makes this ecosystem unique is the strong collaboration between government, business, innovators, and researchers. At the Chamber, we are committed to supporting these partnerships and ensuring innovation thrives here—not as an exception, but as the norm.' Looking ahead, the Abu Dhabi Chamber has introduced a new strategic roadmap for 2025-2028 that focuses on making it easier to do business, improving policy support, and enhancing connectivity within the AI ecosystem. An Advocacy Working Group on Artificial Intelligence and Technology is already bringing together leaders to shape the future of AI in Abu Dhabi, further strengthening the emirate's position as a global innovation hub.
Gizmodo
8 hours ago
- Business
- Gizmodo
The Rise of a New AI Superpower
Abu Dhabi's artificial intelligence sector is growing at breakneck speed, a rapid expansion that officials say is reconfiguring the emirate as a major global centre for AI. New figures from the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry show the emirate counted 673 AI companies between June 2023 and June 2024, a stunning 61% rise in a single year. That growth has made Abu Dhabi the fastest-growing AI cluster in the Middle East and North Africa. But in a world dominated by a handful of established tech capitals, can the emirate truly compete with the giants? The emirate's push is a deliberate effort to exploit the weaknesses of the incumbents. A cornerstone of its strategy is the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), the world's first graduate-level university dedicated solely to AI, designed to cultivate and attract a deep talent pool. By combining this focus on talent with massive government backing and a significantly lower cost of doing business, Abu Dhabi is positioning itself as a natural magnet for founders and investors looking for an alternative to the overheated markets of the U.S. and Europe. The New AI Cities Nurturing Cutting Edge Tech The new report maps out a distinct geography of artificial intelligence startups that has emerged globally, with a relatively small set of international cities concentrating the capital, talent, research institutions and corporate partners that early-stage AI companies need to scale. While AI innovation is increasingly distributed, a handful of urban ecosystems continue to lead the arms race to have the most advanced teams. Each hub has a unique blend of strengths covering everything from venture funding, deep research, access to data and specialized hardware or policy support, making them natural magnets for founders and investors. Where Are the Biggest Global Hubs for AI Analysts at StartupBlink have broken down exactly where AI is flocking as the Wild West rush for capital and customers continues its scorching pace. The San Francisco Bay Area remains the preeminent hub, powered by dense venture capital networks, leading universities, major cloud and chip providers, and a culture that tolerates risk and rapid iteration. As the long-time epicenter of the tech industry, startups in the Bay continue to benefit from proximity to both deep-pocketed investors and large tech firms that are major customers or acquirers. Data shows that New York City complements the West Coast with breadth in finance, media, healthcare and advertising create immediate vertical markets for applied AI, while strong seed and growth funding rounds keep a steady pipeline of capital. Across the pond, London retains its role as Europe's AI capital, combining talent from top universities, generous government-backed AI initiatives, and a favorable time zone for transatlantic deals. However, nowhere has been more successful and rapidly scaling and aggressively pushing domestic policy that supports tech than China. China's AI scene is anchored by Beijing and Shenzhen. Heavily backed by the Chinese state, Beijing is a research and talent powerhouse with deep ties to major AI labs and state-backed industrial programs. Tech analysts follow Shenzhen closely because it excels at rapid hardware prototyping and commercializing AI-powered devices. Both cities benefit from major support from a strong, centralized Chinese government that is significantly invested in pushing massive domestic markets and integrated supply chains. The Middle East Makes a Play for AI Dominance Tel Aviv remains a startup factory, offering highly experienced technical founders, a specialized cybersecurity and data-science talent pool, and a strong exit market. Beyond the top tier, a host of specialized hubs are carving out their own niches. In North America, Toronto and Montreal are research powerhouses with initiatives that feed startups with top-tier machine-learning talent and international partnerships, while Boston leverages its universities to lead in biotech AI. Paris and Berlin provide growing European ecosystems with robust public research funding and increasingly active VC communities. In India, Bengaluru continues to expand as the nation's engineering and product-development center, offering cost-effective talent and a large domestic market for AI services. Singapore is positioning itself as a regulatory- and infrastructure-friendly gateway to Southeast Asia, actively courting AI companies with data-governance frameworks and regional connectivity. Seattle, with its cloud and retail giants, remains an influential node for enterprise AI. The Weakness of the Giants Even the biggest AI hubs have real weaknesses. The Bay Area is weighed down by sky-high costs and cut-throat competition for engineers, while a softer VC market makes it harder for later-stage startups to scale. New York faces a persistent hiring gap as top researchers chase the pay and resources of Google and Meta, and its office rents and salaries push early-stage burn rates to the brink. Those pressures are creating an opening for newer, more flexible markets, like Abu Dhabi, to thrive. In an era of political division and economic uncertainty, the biggest 'moonshot' may not be a new algorithm but a new city. And in the global race for AI, Abu Dhabi is making a compelling case that its moment has arrived.
Khaleej Times
3 days ago
- Science
- Khaleej Times
AI without internet: How graduate from UAE's MBZUAI creates smart apps that work offline
When Daniel Gebre was growing up in Dekemhare, a small city in Eritrea, internet access was a rare luxury. He and his classmates would take turns using a single campus connection, share downloaded files, and rely on offline copies of Wikipedia just to study. That experience stayed with him — not as frustration, but as fuel. 'Growing up in a place where internet access was scarce, I know the frustration of being curious and eager to learn but constantly being held back by limited digital resources,' he said. 'That challenge pushed me to think about how technology could be made to work in environments like the one I came from.' Now 27, Gebre is a recent graduate of Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), where he focused his master's research on how to bring artificial intelligence (AI) tools to people without internet access. His thesis project, iShrink, compresses large language models (LLMs) so they can run offline on mobile devices — an innovation aimed at students and professionals in low-connectivity areas. 'There were times in Eritrea when even downloading a simple document or video was a challenge,' he said. 'iShrink is about making sure people do not have to wait for internet access to be part of the AI conversation.' How it works 'In simple terms, iShrink is a framework designed to make large language models smaller and more efficient without significantly affecting their performance,' Gebre explained. 'It does this by identifying and removing parts of the model that are less important, then fine-tuning the remaining components so they still work well. This makes the models faster, lighter, and easier to run on devices with limited resources.' Shrinking smaller models poses a unique challenge, he said, because they contain fewer redundant parameters compared to larger models. 'Despite this, we achieved about a 22.5 per cent and 19.7 per cent size reduction on models such as LLaMA 3.1-1B and Falcon 1B respectively.' 'iShrink currently supports LLaMA, Falcon, and Qwen models, with plans to expand to other open-source architectures in the future.' To test the tool, Gebre developed a mobile application that runs entirely on a local device. 'The results were promising,' he said. 'In the future, I aim to enhance it with voice and multimodal capabilities to make it even more useful in real-world scenarios,' he added, 'I plan to make iShrink fully open source so it can be used and improved by the AI community.' Scholarship to the UAE Gebre moved to the UAE in 2019 on a scholarship from the Ministry of Education, awarded to top engineering students in Eritrea. He completed his undergraduate degree in information technology at Zayed University with a focus on cybersecurity. It was during a research internship at MBZUAI that his direction changed. Mentored by Dr Moayad Aloqaily and Professor Mohsen Guizani, he became immersed in the possibilities of AI and how it could address real-world problems. 'They really encouraged me to explore AI more seriously,' he said. 'I had planned to pursue my master's elsewhere, but Professor Mohsen kept urging me to apply to MBZUAI. Eventually I did, and that decision changed everything.' Gebre described his first semester of graduate school as the most difficult academic experience of his life. He spent long nights reinforcing his math skills and adjusting to the pace of the programme. 'I had to catch up fast,' he said. 'There were days I studied until three in the morning just to stay afloat.' His perseverance paid off. He completed his thesis, co-authored three academic papers, and presented at international conferences, including the IEEE International Conference on Human-Machine Systems in Abu Dhabi. 'You really grow when you take ownership of your learning,' he said. 'It was difficult, but transformative.' From research to real-world impact Since graduating in May 2025, Gebre has joined Inception, a G42 company, as an Applied Scientist. He is now working on domain-specific AI solutions for industry — a transition supported by a prior internship at the Technology Innovation Institute. 'That was the first time I saw what it takes to bring AI into production,' he said. 'It gave me a much clearer picture of how research turns into impact.' While his focus today is on refining his skills in industry, Gebre's long-term mission remains unchanged: to expand access to technology for underserved communities. 'In Eritrea, many students still have not heard of tools like ChatGPT or Gemini,' he said. "Even at college, they often have to gather around one internet access point to download materials. The gap is real, which means the potential is even greater." Future plans "Absolutely," he said, when asked whether he plans to return to Eritrea to work on digital infrastructure and education. 'Given the current technology gap in our country, I want to be among the pioneers who lay the foundations for a thriving tech industry in Eritrea. My goal is to lead AI enablement programs across various domains and initiatives.' When it comes to Eritrea's many ethnic groups and languages, he believes the lack of digital representation is an issue that can and should be addressed. 'Our population is around six million, and while English is used in some areas, it is not universal,' he said. 'The main challenges are data and computation. As a small population country, gathering sufficient data is not easy. Most of our literature in local languages exists in hard copy form, so collecting these materials, digitising them, and preparing them for training is a significant but achievable task. With adequate resources and collaboration, it is certainly possible to build such a model.' 'At the moment, I am fully engaged in my role at Inception. In the future, I plan to launch an initiative to bring together individuals with backgrounds in AI, machine learning, and natural language processing to contribute to open-source projects that develop models aligned with Eritrea's diverse languages, cultures, and values.' Advice to students from under-served communities 'During a panel discussion at MBZUAI, one of my professors said that the key to excellence in any field is mastering the fundamentals, no shortcuts. That advice completely changed my perspective, and I would pass it on to anyone starting out in AI,' he explained. 'For students from backgrounds similar to mine, I would add that talent and good academic performance are not enough. The right mindset, consistent effort, strong interpersonal skills, and building a solid professional network are equally important in determining how far you can go.' When he received his degree, his mother was in the audience — a proud moment marking how far he had come. 'I am so grateful to the UAE for giving me this opportunity,' he said. 'It changed the course of my life.' He hopes his work is only the beginning. 'If iShrink or any part of what I have done can help students like me learn, explore, and grow — no matter where they live or what resources they have — that's the kind of impact I want to keep building.'
Khaleej Times
03-08-2025
- Business
- Khaleej Times
UAE secures top spot in global AI talent rankings
The UAE has been ranked among the world's top 20 nations for artificial intelligence (AI) talent density, alongside Saudi Arabia, in the latest Global AI Competitiveness Index published by the International Finance Forum (IFF) and Deep Knowledge Group (DKG). With 0.7 per cent of the global AI talent pool, the UAE has outpaced countries such as Italy and Russia — affirming its growing stature as a global innovation powerhouse. While much of the spotlight has been on Saudi Arabia's ambitious AI push, the UAE's AI ecosystem has quietly gained strength through long-term strategic investments, visionary policymaking, and global partnerships that position it at the forefront of AI development and governance. The UAE's focus on AI began with the launch of the UAE Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2031, which aimed to integrate AI across key sectors including education, healthcare, transport, and space. The country was among the first in the world to appoint a Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence in 2017, and today it continues to expand AI readiness through initiatives such as the Mohammed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) — a graduate-level, research-centric university that is already attracting global talent and publishing cutting-edge research. MBZUAI is currently ranked among the world's top 50 institutions in AI research output, and is collaborating with global tech giants including IBM, NVIDIA, and BCG to foster research in machine learning, robotics, computer vision, and AI ethics. 'The UAE's ecosystem is built not just on infrastructure, but on a vision of ethical AI, global cooperation, and a diversified economy driven by knowledge and innovation,' said Dr. Eric Xing, President of MBZUAI. The IFF report underscores the UAE's growing influence in global AI competitiveness by evaluating not only talent density but also the nation's institutional and innovation performance. The UAE ranked well above many traditional tech economies in per capita AI talent and research productivity, due in part to its business-friendly environment, tax-free salaries, and quality of life — factors that attract leading scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs from around the world. The report's co-author Dmitry Kaminskiy of Deep Knowledge Group remarked: 'Saudi Arabia and the UAE's strategic focus on AI, coupled with visionary investments in talent and infrastructure, is setting the stage for a tectonic shift in global AI leadership.' According to the UAE's Ministry of Economy, the nation aims to increase the AI sector's contribution to GDP by up to 14 per cent by 2030 — translating to over $100 billion in economic output. Much of this is being driven by AI applications in logistics, government services, fintech, and smart city solutions, especially in hubs like Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The Dubai Future Foundation, for instance, is pioneering large-scale AI use cases in government and urban mobility through its Dubai AI Roadmap. Similarly, Abu Dhabi's Hub71 and its partnership with global VCs and accelerators has made the UAE one of the fastest-growing AI startup ecosystems in the region. As per data from Crunchbase and Startup Genome, AI-focused startups in the UAE raised more than $1.3 billion in venture capital in 2024 alone, with projections pointing to a 25 per cent increase in funding in 2025. While Saudi Arabia is investing heavily in infrastructure-led projects like NEOM — where over 30 per cent of its $500 billion budget is earmarked for AI-powered technologies — the UAE's strength lies in policy innovation and ecosystem-building. This complementary approach is helping the broader Gulf region gain momentum as a global AI innovation corridor. 'The UAE provides a unique balance of global accessibility, talent development, and future-ready governance,' noted Professor Patrick Glauner, IFF AI committee coordinator. 'Its neutral diplomatic positioning and strong ties with both Western and Eastern tech partners make it a magnet for cross-border AI collaboration.' At the heart of this transformation is the battle for AI talent. The UAE's efforts in creating AI labs, reskilling programmes like the National Program for Coders, and special visas for AI professionals are enhancing its ability to attract and retain global talent.
Mid East Info
24-07-2025
- Science
- Mid East Info
Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence NextGen Summer Program empowers future generations of advanced technology leaders
The Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) has launched its NextGen Summer Program, a week-long initiative designed to introduce high school students in Grades 10–12 to the fast-evolving world of artificial intelligence, innovation, and emerging technologies. Hosted at the MBZUAI campus in Abu Dhabi, the immersive programme brings together 38 high-performing students from across the UAE, for hands-on workshops and expert-led sessions. The students were selected from more than 150 applications, highlighting the programme's competitiveness. They will collaborate on projects requiring real-world AI applications in sectors such as healthcare, mobility, climate, and the creative industries. What sets the programme apart is its strong focus on real-world relevance. Under the guidance of MBZUAI faculty and industry mentors, students will use platforms like Python, Google Colab, and Kaggle to work with real datasets and explore how AI models are designed, tested, and evaluated. Sessions on AI ethics, bias, and future career paths will reinforce the importance of using technology thoughtfully and with awareness of their broader societal impact. Rawdha AlMeraikhi, Director of Outreach at MBZUAI, said: 'We designed NextGen to spark curiosity, build skills, and give students a realistic glimpse into the future of AI, not just as a technology, but as a tool to create meaningful change. It's a unique opportunity for students to build confidence, explore their potential in one of the world's most impactful fields, and potentially become the next MBZUAI students and future leaders in AI.' The programme supports the UAE's broader vision to build national capabilities in advanced technology, in alignment with the UAE National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence 2031, which aims to position the country as a global leader in AI innovation and adoption. It also aligns with Abu Dhabi's ambition to become the world's first fully AI-native government by 2027. About Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence MBZUAI MBZUAI is a research-focused university in Abu Dhabi, and the first university dedicated entirely to the advancement of science through AI. The university empowers the next generation of AI leaders, driving innovation and impactful applications of AI through world-class education and interdisciplinary research. In 2025, MBZUAI launched its first ever undergraduate program, a Bachelor of Science in AI, with two distinct streams: Business and Engineering.
