Good morning!
Welcome to this week’s Middle East AI News email digest!
As usual, lots of news to share in today’s newsletter. A new study from Ericsson finds that 63% of UAE smartphone users expect to delegate tasks to AI agents by 2030; Abu Dhabi launches TAMM Global to export its AI-powered government platform; Egypt unveils an AI platform to combat misinformation; Qatar’s Qai and Hugging Face announce an AI hackathon in Doha; and Abu Dhabi’s Hyperfusion partners with VAST Data to launch a containerised AI data centre.
Scroll down for more news.
If you haven’t yet read last week’s article by SCC Middle East’s Daniel Valle of on Protecting ‘Made in the UAE’ IP, you can find it here:
And I’m pleased to announce that Middle East AI News is a media partner of AIDC Expo and Cairo ICT. You can register for the event here.
Thanks for reading!
/Carrington
AI Strategy
Qatar approves national AI centre
#Qatar #AIsrrategy - Qatar has approved the establishment of a National Center for Artificial Intelligence under the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. The centre will coordinate national AI strategy, develop regulatory frameworks, encourage investment and support adoption across government and industry. (Middle East AI News)
AI Inference
Emirates NBD first MENA bank with local OpenAI
#UAE #inference - Emirates NBD has become the first bank in the Middle East and North Africa to deploy OpenAI models using UAE-based inference infrastructure. The collaboration will support customer engagement, risk and compliance analytics, and employee productivity while keeping AI processing within the country to address regulatory requirements. (Middle East AI News)
Hyperfusion and VAST Data launch modular AI centre
#UAE #datacenres - Hyperfusion and VAST Data have launched Sentinel, a containerised AI data centre designed for rapid, sovereign deployment. The 45-foot unit supports 96 GPUs and up to three petabytes of storage, enabling confidential, air-gapped AI processing. The companies are developing an integrated data platform for distributed deployments. (Middle East AI News)
AI Models
UAE launches six Jais 3 Arabic AI models
#UAE #Arabic - Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) and G42’s Inception42 have launched Jais 3, a family of six open Arabic AI models ranging up to 375 billion parameters. Designed for Arabic dialects and autonomous AI tasks, the release includes a speech model recognising dialects from 19 Arab countries and multilingual conversations. (Middle East AI News)
G42 and AMI Labs explore world model AI
#UAE #worldmodels - G42 and Analog have signed non-binding agreements with Paris-based AMI Labs, co-founded by Yann LeCun. The proposed collaboration will explore world models, computing infrastructure and industrial applications, combining research into physical environments. (Middle East AI News)
Telecom
63% of UAE smartphone users to adopt AI agents
#UAE #telecom - Ericsson research finds that 63% of UAE smartphone users expect to delegate everyday tasks to AI agents by 2030. Already, 10% use agentic AI, compared with 4% globally. Heavy AI users could reach 46% by 2030, reshaping mobile network demand and expectations for responsiveness. (Middle East AI News)
Etisalat expands sovereign AI partnership
#UAE #telecom - UAE telecommunications operator Etisalat has extended its partnership with DataRobot to deploy autonomous AI agents across its business operations. The platform will operate within Etisalat’s own data centre, allowing the company to maintain control over sensitive information. (Middle East AI News)
Cysbersecurity
75% of UAE executives escalate AI incidents
#UAE #governance - IBM research finds that 75% of UAE executives escalated an AI-related incident to their board or C-suite in the past year. Although 78% expect AI agents to make autonomous decisions by 2027, only 41% believe their governance frameworks can scale to manage the associated risks. (Middle East AI News)
Only 10% of UAE firms ready for agentic AI
#UAE #cybersecurity - A sudy from Microsoft, CPX and IDC study finds only one in ten UAE organisations fully prepared to deploy agentic AI safely. Some 98% of security teams have encountered AI risks, while 43% of CIOs report unapproved AI usage. (Middle East AI News)
Startups
Dubai’s Popcorn AI Studio raises $1M
#UAE #media - Dubai-based Popcorn AI Studio has secured $1 million in pre-seed funding to develop its AI-powered filmmaking platform. Founded by Egyptian entrepreneurs, the startup focuses on Arabic video production, including support for regional dialects and lip synchronisation, targeting the growing demand for locally relevant AI-generated content. (Middle East AI News)
Dubai’s Ayan raises AED 2.2M for AI brand platform
#UAE #marketing - Dubai-based Ayan has raised AED 2.2 million ($600k) in pre-seed funding to expand its AI brand intelligence platform internationally. The technology tracks how AI assistants describe brands and helps businesses improve their digital presence. (Middle East AI News)
Oman AI tool cuts construction claims to two days
#Oman #construction - Masin AI has launched a construction contract management platform in Muscat that analyses documents, identifies delays and tracks deadlines. The company claims it can reduce claims preparation from 18 days to two, with human oversight retained. (Oman Observer)
Made in the UAE
Abu Dhabi launches TAMM Global to export govtech
#UAE #AIgovernment - Abu Dhabi’s Department of Government Enablement has established TAMM Global to license its AI-powered government services platform internationally. TAMM integrates more than 1,200 services, has reportedly reduced delivery costs by 30% and achieved 94.5% customer satisfaction. (Middle East AI News)
Marketing
91% of UAE marketers use AI, but integration lags
#UAE #marketing - A Team Lewis survey finds that 91% of UAE marketing organisations use AI, but only 36% have fully integrated their systems. Disconnected platforms and inaccurate AI-generated content continue to undermine productivity, highlighting a gap between widespread adoption and the ability to achieve consistent operational benefits. (Middle East AI News)
Media
Saudi launches campaign against AI deepfakes
#Saudi #cybersecurity - The Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA) and CST have launched a national awareness campaign addressing the growing threat of AI-generated deepfakes. The initiative encourages individuals to verify digital information and safeguard their identities. (Middle East AI News)
Egypt launches AI platform to counter misinformation
#Egypt #communication - Egypt has launched Chat EGYPT, an AI-powered platform to detect and counter misinformation. The system analyses text, images and videos against verified government information, with more than 21,000 data entries uploaded. (Middle East AI News)
Competitions
Qai and Hugging Face to host Qatar AI hackathon
#Qatar #hackathons - Qai and Hugging Face will host an AI hackathon in Doha from 5–7 November 2026, bringing together developers, engineers and students to build practical AI solutions. Applications close on 29 October, with participation subject to selection. (Hugging Face)
Bilaterals
Oman and UK sign AI education and space agreements
#Oman #education - Oman and the UK have signed two letters of intent covering space cooperation and AI in education. The education agreement with the British Council will pilot AI-supported English learning in selected Omani secondary schools. (Times of Oman)
[ This newsletter was both AI edited & human edited ]