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UAE ranks third globally in AI adoption as usage surges
Khaleej Times
|February 24, 2026
The UAE has emerged as one of the world's fastest adopters of artificial intelligence, ranking third globally with a 56 per cent adoption rate in 2025 as businesses, government entities and consumers rapidly embrace AI-powered tools, a new global study shows.
The number of AI app downloads in the UAE rose sharply from 1.1 million in 2023 to 2.9 million in 2024 and 6.3 million in 2025, representing a 107 per cent year-on-year jump between 2024 and 2025 alone.
According to research by Cybernews, AI adoption in the UAE surged from just 10 per cent in 2023 to 27 per cent in 2024 and then doubled again to 56 per cent in 2025, reflecting the country's aggressive push to position itself as a global technology and innovation hub. The findings are based on analysis of download data for the 100 most popular AI applications across 64 countries, benchmarked against national population figures.
The number of AI app downloads in the UAE rose sharply from 1.1 million in 2023 to 2.9 million in 2024 and 6.3 million in 2025, representing a 107 per cent year-on-year jump between 2024 and 2025 alone. The rapid uptake underscores how deeply artificial intelligence tools have penetrated everyday life and business operations across the Emirates.
Policy focus
This story is from the February 24, 2026 edition of Khaleej Times.
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