UAE Ranks First Globally in AI Adoption: Report

According to Microsoft’s 2025 AI Diffusion Report, the United Arab Emirates effectively ranks first in the world for AI adoption, with 59.4% of its working-age population using AI tools, the highest rate recorded among all surveyed nations, surpassing leading digital economies such as Singapore, Norway and Ireland. This positions the UAE not just as an early adopter, but as the global frontrunner in real-world AI usage.

This milestone sheds light on how the UAE’s AI strategy, long touted domestically, is playing out on the global stage. The report shows that the UAE, through deliberate investment in infrastructure, regulation, and human capital, may already be reaping the benefits.

The AI Diffusion Report warns that AI’s spread is uneven. Adoption strongly correlates with foundational factors: reliable electricity, robust data-center infrastructure, widespread connectivity, digital skills, and language relevance. Where those “building blocks” are weak or missing, AI remains largely inaccessible.

For many countries, especially in parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, or Latin America, AI adoption remains below 10 per cent. The gulf, Microsoft argues, could harden a global digital divide for decades.

By contrast, the UAE appears to have cultivated an environment highly conducive to AI diffusion: good infrastructure, stable electricity, strong internet penetration, and concerted policy support.

That supports a broader trend: the UAE government has signaled long-term commitment to AI as a pillar of post-oil economic transformation. The national AI program and institutional frameworks, including a dedicated “Council for AI” and other regulatory efforts, reflect that ambition.

It’s not just about broad access either: AI is being adopted in concrete public-sector domains including government communication, citizen engagement, data analytics, and public services.

First, the high AI user-share (59.4 per cent) suggests widespread adoption, not limited to technologists or large enterprises. It may reflect use in everyday applications, workplace tools, government services, private-sector productivity platforms, and educational or language tools. This diversification is critical: the real value of AI, according to Microsoft’s framework, comes not just from cutting-edge “frontier” models, but from broad uptake across society.

Second, the UAE’s existing investments in data centers, digital literacy, and AI governance may position it as a regional hub, not only a user of foreign models, but a base for building AI infrastructure. Given that only a handful of countries host the bulk of global data-center capacity, the presence of a digitally mature, wealthy state such as the UAE could attract further investment and talent.

Third, the UAE’s push aligns with broader Gulf-region dynamics. A recent academic study published in 2025 developed a GCC-specific AI Adoption Index. It found that in Gulf states, strong infrastructure and clear policy mandates, rather than just organizational readiness, drive most of the variance in successful AI uptake.

In that context, the UAE’s placement atop global AI-diffusion rankings appear less surprising and more representative of what happens when resources, regulation, and strategic vision align.

But the AI-diffusion success for the UAE also raises questions and risks. The first is inequality: globally, the AI boom is leaving nearly half the world’s population behind. The report estimates that nearly four billion people still lack the basic prerequisites, electricity, consistent internet, data literacy needed to participate.

As AI becomes further integrated into public services, industry workflows and day-to-day life in the UAE, the expanding user base presents opportunities to broaden digital inclusion even more widely. The country’s diverse population and multilingual workforce give it a strong foundation to design AI systems that serve varied communities, reinforcing the UAE’s position as a global testbed for practical, real-world AI deployment.

While the Microsoft AI Diffusion Report highlights that only a small group of countries currently lead in building frontier models, the UAE’s rapid progress in adoption, infrastructure development and talent attraction positions it well to become a future contributor to advanced AI research. Ongoing investments in data centers, specialized institutes and national AI initiatives suggest that the UAE is steadily moving from a high-performing adopter toward an emerging regional hub for AI innovation.

The 2025 AI Diffusion Report offers a data-grounded affirmation that the UAE’s strategy is bearing fruit. What once may have been long-term ambition now sits firmly in a global ranking. As one of the world’s top adopters, the UAE exemplifies how a resource-rich, policy-driven state can accelerate AI uptake at societal scale.

The real narrative may no longer be “Can the UAE adopt AI?”, but “How will the UAE shape AI’s role, in governance, innovation, and inequality, over the next decade?”