Abu Dhabi and Dubai have both ranked among the top five cities in Europe, the Middle East and Africa in The Observer’s first Global AI Cities Index, which assessed 57 cities worldwide.
Abu Dhabi placed 11th globally with a score of 31.1, making it the highest-ranked city in the Middle East. Dubai ranked 14th with a score of 26.6. The EMEA top five also included Paris and London.
Dubai’s strongest performance came in public investment, where it ranked fourth globally with a score of 63.7. The pillar measures government spending commitments to AI infrastructure, research and sector support. Abu Dhabi ranked sixth globally in the same category, scoring 36.2.
Abu Dhabi also placed fifth globally for operating environment, with a score of 77.9. However, both cities scored comparatively lower in research and commercial ecosystem, which assess AI research output and the depth of local company activity.
The index uses 50 indicators across seven pillars, including infrastructure, development, private investment and public investment. It was commissioned by Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence and Khalifa University.
The San Francisco Bay Area topped the global ranking, followed by New York, Seoul, Beijing and Paris.
Source: Middle East AI News
