UAE Offers World’s First AI University In Abu Dhabi

From Harlina Samson ABU DHABI, Oct 17 (Bernama) -- In a bid to develop human capital in the artificial intelligence (AI) field, the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday announced the establishment of the world’s first AI research institution. Based in Masdar City here, the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) is a new graduate-level AI research-based institution that offers a specialised degree for local and international students in the field of AI. MBZUAI will, among others, provide students and researchers with the world’s most advanced AI systems and technology to unleash its potential for economic and societal development. UAE Minister of State and Chairman of MBZUAI Board of Trustees, Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber said: “The MBZUAI is an open invitation from Abu Dhabi to the world to further harness and unleash AI’s full potential.” He said talent and academic institutions are essential particularly when the world entered its new era of technology and AI became a priority as the rapidly-advancing technology that transforms economies and sectors in the world. “AI can lead to an even-greater societal and economic transformation. Leveraging the AI will help us to better prepare the future challenges and creating opportunities,” he told a media conference here Wednesday to announce the establishment of MBZUAI. MBZUAI is named after Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Force Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed in recognition of his belief in the transforming power of knowledge and scientific thinking. Among its objectives are to support Abu Dhabi’s effort to build and sustain an AI-based knowledge economy and to support the UAE’s innovation clusters and AI start-ups. AI is set to have a transformational impact on the global economy, with experts estimating that, by 2030, AI could contribute nearly US$16 trillion to the global economy. The UAE has focussed on a knowledge-based economy that the country made AI a strategic national priority in 2017, announcing a roadmap for an AI-driven future through the UAE’s Strategy for Artificial Intelligence 2031. Also, presents were the university’s founding board of trustees that are made up of leaders in the AI field. They were MBZUAI interim president Professor Sir Michael Brady, a professor of oncological imaging at the University of Oxford, UK; Professor Anil K. Jain, a university distinguished professor at Michigan State University, USA; Dr Kai-Fu Lee, a technology executive and venture capitalist based in Beijing, China; Prof Andrew Chi-Chih Yao, a world-renowned computer scientist who is also Dean of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Information Sciences at Tsinghua University; Prof Daniela Rus, Director of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) in the USA; and Peng Xiao, a global technology and business leader who is also CEO of Abu Dhabi-based Group 42 Ltd. -- BERNAMA