Hamdan Bin Mohammed Directs Dubai AI Week To Expand In April 2026 With Global Participation

H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, emphasised Dubai's dedication to advancing AI adoption. This commitment aims to create new opportunities and establish Dubai as a global centre for AI enterprises, talent, and innovation. His comments were made at the conclusion of Dubai AI Week 2025, which drew over 30,000 experts and participants from more than 100 countries.

The event was organised by the Dubai Centre for Artificial Intelligence and overseen by the Dubai Future Foundation. It featured ten major events across the city, with over 250 sessions, panel discussions, and workshops. More than 30 new initiatives and partnerships between government and private sector stakeholders were launched during this time.

Dubai AI Week 2025 attracted major tech companies like Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Google, IBM, Amazon, NVIDIA, and Cohere. The event also included students from local schools and universities. H.H. Sheikh Hamdan announced that the next edition would be held in April 2026 with plans to double its scale.

He stated that artificial intelligence is transforming human history by changing how individuals and institutions operate. "Those who are best prepared for the future are the ones building the foundations today—by enabling ecosystems, empowering talent, and ensuring responsible AI governance," he said.

During the week, du revealed a new AED2 billion hyperscale data centre project in collaboration with Microsoft. The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) launched its AI Strategy 2030 with 81 projects aimed at improving public services through AI technologies.

The Dubai Centre for AI Applications released a report titled ‘15 AI Use Cases in Government’, showcasing successful examples of AI deployment in public services. Additionally, the ‘Dubai State of AI Report’ assessed over 100 high-impact AI use cases across various sectors.

Focus on Education and Healthcare

Advancing AI in education was highlighted with the University of Birmingham – Dubai launching the first PhD programme in Artificial Intelligence. The AI in Healthcare Forum explored how AI can enhance healthcare services globally.

The HIMSS 2025 conference examined innovations in generative AI, genomics, precision medicine, and digital transformation within healthcare. These discussions aimed to explore how technology can improve patient outcomes.

AI Week Activities and Highlights

The week included an AI Retreat at the Museum of the Future with over 150 experts discussing global trends. The Assembly attracted more than 10,000 participants from countries like South Korea, Canada, India, Australia, Germany, Italy, and the United States.

The Dubai AI Festival saw participation from over 10,000 individuals including investors and policymakers from around the world. It featured more than 100 speakers across various sessions focused on emerging technologies.

Competitions and Certifications

The Global Prompt Engineering Championship brought together nearly 3,800 participants competing for top honours in categories like coding and art generation. Winners included Abdulrahman Al Marzooqi for coding-related prompts.

The Machines Can See Summit focused on computational power and machine learning advancements while hosting over 3,500 leaders from different sectors. The Hackathon: Agentic AI challenged participants to develop independent models addressing real-world issues.

Empowering Arabic Media Through Technology

The Dubai Media Academy announced an initiative to build an AI-driven content ecosystem tailored for Arabic media landscapes during Dubai AI Week. This aims to empower language technologies across dialects while respecting cultural nuances.

The first certified companies under the Dubai AI Seal were celebrated during this week as well; this seal supports collaboration between government entities and trusted developers or deployers of artificial intelligence solutions within Dubai’s ecosystem.

Strategic Partnerships Supporting Growth

Dubai Health launched ALiF initiative developed by Mohammed Bin Rashid University offering practical skills aligned with global standards including ethical considerations surrounding artificial intelligence applications within healthcare settings throughout MENA region specifically UAE itself too!

Key strategic partners supporting these efforts include Digital Dubai Authority along with other organisations such as DEWA Chamber Digital Economy UAE Artificial Intelligence Office among others who participated actively throughout entire duration making it successful event overall!

With inputs from WAM