Dubai opens regulatory AI testing pathway for firms

Dubai’s government has opened a new regulatory pathway for artificial intelligence companies, with the Dubai Future Foundation launching an AI Sandbox designed to test how emerging technologies perform in real-world settings and where existing rules may need to change.

The program, run through the foundation’s Sandbox Dubai initiative, targets local and international technology firms whose AI products have cleared the minimum viable product stage but face obstacles in moving from experimentation to commercial deployment. According to the foundation, those obstacles include regulatory requirements, limited access to data, and uncertainty over how current policies apply to new technologies.

The launch places regulators and innovators in the same process by design. Participating companies will work alongside relevant government entities, including the Dubai Centre for Artificial Intelligence, to trial their solutions in live environments. That structure is intended to serve two purposes at once: giving companies a route to market, and giving authorities a structured way to assess emerging applications, identify potential risks, and decide whether existing regulatory frameworks require updating.

Khalifa Al Qama, chief of research, development and innovation at the Dubai Future Foundation, framed the initiative as a matter of policy keeping pace with technology. “The UAE has made significant progress in AI adoption, but the next priority is ensuring that promising technologies can move beyond testing and into practical use. This requires us to look beyond the technology itself and address the regulatory challenges that companies face,” he said.

“Through the AI Sandbox, we are bringing innovators and regulators together to test new applications, understand where existing frameworks may need to adapt and identify practical solutions. Our aim is to create an environment where companies can develop and deploy AI technologies with greater regulatory clarity, while ensuring that policy development keeps pace with innovation,” he added.

Eligibility is defined by both the maturity of the technology and its usefulness to policymakers. Applicants must be developing AI-native products across sectors that include education, healthcare, transport, logistics, tourism, media and government services, among other industries. Solutions must demonstrate commercialization potential and be capable of generating evidence that could inform future policies and regulations, a requirement that ties participation directly to the government’s own rulemaking needs.

Participants will receive technical, policy and commercial expertise, along with regulatory guidance tailored to their specific solutions. In some cases, depending on the application and applicable requirements, companies may also be able to explore regulatory exemptions, though any such relief remains subject to approval by the relevant authorities. That condition keeps final decision-making power with government bodies rather than with the program itself.

Meanwhile, the economic case for the intervention is drawn from research cited by the World Economic Forum, which indicates that 74% of companies have yet to advance their AI initiatives beyond the experimentation stage. The foundation’s position is that the gap between testing and deployment is not primarily a technical problem but a governance one, and that clearing it requires regulators to engage directly with the technologies in question.

The timing reflects the speed of adoption in the UAE. Microsoft’s Global AI Diffusion Report places the country first globally, with 73.3% of its working-age population using AI, against a global average of 18.8%. That level of uptake raises the stakes for how quickly regulatory frameworks can adapt, since rules that lag behind widespread use risk becoming obstacles rather than safeguards.

The AI Sandbox also extends an existing line of regulatory work. Sandbox Dubai has previously run programs covering the gig economy, healthcare and real estate, and the foundation said the new program will complement Dubai’s broader research, development and innovation ecosystem by helping companies navigate regulatory and operational challenges as they bring AI products to market.

For the companies that take part, the immediate value lies in expert support and clearer regulatory guidance. For the authorities involved, the stakes run higher still. The program offers a mechanism for testing whether the rules on the books still fit the technologies now entering the market, and a formal channel through which to revise them. The open question is how quickly that channel will be used.