UAE’s AI rise driven by Falcon models, global talent and strong ChatGPT usage, says report.
Dubai: The World Bank has identified the UAE as one of the world’s leading emerging forces in artificial intelligence, highlighting the country’s sustained investment, advanced institutional framework, and growing capabilities in developing sophisticated AI models, attracting global talent, and accelerating AI adoption across the economy.
In its World Development Report 2026, titled “The Promise of Artificial Intelligence”, the World Bank said the UAE is among a select group of countries making measurable progress in developing advanced foundation AI models from the ground up.
The report highlighted the UAE’s Falcon family of large language models, developed by the Technology Innovation Institute, describing it as one of the world’s leading initiatives in open-source, open-weight AI models that can be freely accessed, downloaded, and adapted by researchers and developers.
The report also highlighted the UAE’s success in attracting AI talent. Alongside Luxembourg, Australia, Saudi Arabia, and Switzerland, the UAE recorded one of the highest net inflows of AI professionals per 10,000 LinkedIn members in 2025, according to the 2026 AI Index.
The country also ranked first globally for positive net inflows of leading AI authors and inventors, achieving a score of 2.58—a significant turnaround from its historical average between 2011 and 2024.
The World Bank attributed part of this progress to long-term residency incentives designed to attract AI experts and specialists in areas such as machine learning, model development, and AI engineering.
The report also ranked the UAE among the world’s top 10 countries for ChatGPT usage relative to internet users, reflecting the rapid adoption of generative AI tools by individuals and businesses.
It highlighted the UAE’s efforts to integrate AI literacy into its national skills framework, appoint chief AI officers across federal entities, and establish a unified federal authority focused on artificial intelligence, data, and digital government.
The World Bank said the UAE provides a model for countries seeking not only to adopt AI technologies but also to develop and adapt them locally to address national language requirements and economic priorities.
