DC Think Tank Delegation Visit Highlights U.A.E.’s Ambitious AI and Tech Vision
  • Council Events, Past Events

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(L to R) U.A.E. Commercial Attaché to the U.S. Jawaher AlMheiri; President of the U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council Danny Sebright; Senior Fellow at the Middle East Institute Mohammed Soliman.

“The perception of the U.S.-U.A.E. tech relationship has changed with a few inflection points. One being the AI question, which the U.A.E. is steering ahead on.” – Mohammed Soliman, a Senior Fellow at the Middle East Institute (MEI) who researches technology, geopolitics, and security in the Middle East. 

The U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council hosted a luncheon discussion on December 10, 2025 with Mohammed Soliman and seven other D.C.-based researchers on a U.A.E. Embassy-sponsored research delegation to the U.A.E. focused on AI. 

  • The delegation seeks to understand the U.A.E.’s approach to AI governance, infrastructure development, and technology strategy as part of their ongoing scholarship on global technology trends.
  • The delegation includes experts from MEI, the American Enterprise Institute, the Foundation for American Innovation, the Institute for Peace and Diplomacy, the John Quincy Adams Society, the Stimson Center, the Special Competitive Studies Project, and the Council on Foreign Relations. 

Guests included senior leadership from the Applied AI Company, Covington & Burling, e&, GM, Honeywell, Intel, Oracle, Parsons, and SAS. 

They were joined by U.A.E. Commercial Attaché to the U.S. Jawaher AlMheiri. 

The discussion provided those D.C.-based researchers an opportunity to learn firsthand from U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council members about the opportunities, trends, and challenges of the technology industry in the U.A.E. Speakers highlighted: 

  • The growing presence of American technology companies in the U.A.E., illustrated by the recently announced Stargate U.A.E. project which brought together OpenAI, G42, Oracle, Nvidia, and Cisco to build one of the world’s largest data centers in the U.A.E. 
  • U.S. policy developments affecting American technology companies in the U.A.E., notably those governing chip exports and the timeline of exporting these chips.
  • The U.S.-U.A.E. AI Partnership, which creates more momentum for deal flow and opens up opportunities for U.S. and U.A.E. companies to collaborate.
  • Applications of AI in industries across the U.A.E. including advanced manufacturing, energy, healthcare, and defense, and the U.A.E. as a leader in innovation across these industries.

U.S. companies underscored the advantages of operating in the U.A.E., praising its fast-moving, regulatory-friendly, and highly innovative business environment.

  • U.S. technology companies view the U.A.E. as “best in class” with the greatest global success rate combined with shared values making the Emiratis great partners.
  • A major benefit of building AI infrastructure in the U.A.E. is the energy supply available.
  • The U.A.E. is well placed to house AI research due to ambitious national leadership, an abundance of local talent, and access to other private sector partners.
  • The U.A.E. presents a market opportunity where client demand for the most advanced technologies meets an increasing number of U.S. start-ups who are looking to develop their solutions further.
  • One strength of the U.A.E. is the combination of the local population embracing AI in their everyday lives and companies adopting best AI practices internally with their workforce.

Other topics included integrating AI technology into consumer products, data sovereignty and cross-border data transfer, and developments in agentic AI.

“I am a true believer that one thing adding to the U.S.-U.A.E. relationship is the conversation around AI and technology. Today’s delegation is getting information firsthand from officials shaping the technology landscape in the U.A.E.” – Jawaher


To learn more about the U.A.E.’s landscape, please consult the U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council and Morgan Lewis’s Guide to Doing Business in the U.A.E. To learn more about the Business Council’s technology programming, please contact Maggie Paddock at mpaddock@usuaebusiness.org.