The United Arab Emirates is introducing artificial intelligence to public school curricula this year. About this informs Bloomberg.
The introduction of the new subject will begin in the 2025-2026 school year — from kindergarten to 12th grade. The course will cover ethical aspects of technology use, basic principles of artificial intelligence, as well as their practical application.
The UAE joins a group of countries that are introducing AI into the school education system. Last month, China also announced the launch of similar courses for primary and secondary school students. The Emirates is actively developing the data infrastructure needed to train AI models and has created an AI investment fund that sources estimate could exceed $100 billion in the future.
In 2023, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman noted that the UAE could become a “regulatory sandbox” — a space for testing new AI technologies and forming global standards for their regulation.
At the same time, the US government is considering easing restrictions on the supply of Nvidia Corp. chips. to the Emirates on the eve of the visit of President Donald Trump, scheduled for mid-May. This decision could strengthen the UAE’s position in the regional competition for leadership in the field of artificial intelligence. The visit of the American president also includes Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
The Emirates have already announced plans to invest up to $1.4 trillion over the next decade in energy, microchip manufacturing, AI infrastructure and manufacturing in the US.
