GCC governments are making Artificial Intelligence a core part of long-term economic diversification plans, using it to reduce reliance on oil and to modernize public services, infrastructure, and industry. Across the region, state entities are leading funding, infrastructure development, and policy design, while regulators are building governance models rooted in data protection, ethics, and legal certainty for investors. The common goal is to establish sovereign Artificial Intelligence capability supported by domestic talent, international partnerships, and large-scale capital deployment.
The United Arab Emirates has integrated Artificial Intelligence into a broader national modernization strategy. In October 2017, the UAE launched the National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence 2031, establishing a ten-year roadmap to embed Artificial Intelligence across the economy and public administration and to position the country as a global leader in Artificial Intelligence by 2031. The strategy focuses on sectors including water, transport, energy, logistics, tourism, healthcare and cybersecurity. The UAE also appointed Omar Sultan Al Olama as minister responsible for the portfolio in 2017, expanded delivery programs and ethics frameworks, and supported infrastructure growth through entities such as G42, Khazna, and Abu Dhabi’s Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Technology Council. The most prominent project is Stargate, described as a 5GW Artificial Intelligence data center complex in Abu Dhabi. The first 200MW is expected to go live later in 2026.
Saudi Arabia has centered its push on the National Strategy for Data and Artificial Intelligence, launched in 2020 under the Saudi Data & AI Authority as part of Vision 2030. NSDAI is targeting to attract SAR 75 billion (~USD20 billion) in Artificial Intelligence-related investment and being home to over 300 Artificial Intelligence and data startups by 2030. According to the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Saudi Arabia has announced nearly USD15 billion of investment in Artificial Intelligence and emerging technologies which includes Microsoft’s USD2 billion investment to develop Artificial Intelligence-powered data centers, Groq’s USD1.5 billion commitment to expand its inference infrastructure in the Kingdom, and Salesforce’s USD500 million investment which also supports training 30,000 Saudi nationals by 2030. Saudi Arabia has also launched HUMAIN, backed by the Public Investment Fund and Aramco, and introduced the Implementing Regulations of the Cloud Computing and Information Technology Special Economic Zone to create a tailored legal environment for cloud and IT operators.
Other GCC states are pursuing similar paths with different regulatory and investment models. Qatar has built a structured governance system under its National Artificial Intelligence Strategy and has binding Artificial Intelligence-related guidelines for Qatar Central Bank licensed financial institutions. In December 2025, Qai announced a strategic partnership with Brookfield to co-develop Artificial Intelligence infrastructure in Qatar and other regions. Oman has embedded Artificial Intelligence in Oman Vision 2040 and published a National Artificial Intelligence Policy in April 2025 after public consultation, while using its sovereign wealth arm and investment incentives to support data center, cloud, and applied Artificial Intelligence projects. Bahrain is advancing under a broader digital economy agenda and proposed a standalone Artificial Intelligence Regulation Law in April 2024, although the legislative status remains unclear. Together, these efforts show a region-wide strategy to build an independent center for Artificial Intelligence development, investment, and cross-border collaboration.
