UAE announces $1 million agentic AI prize and two other initiatives with World Economic Forum

Centre · 1The UAE announced a $1 million prize for the winners of a global competition on using agentic AI to improve quality of life. 1 Centre · 2Mohammed Al Gergawi, the UAE Minister of Cabinet Affairs, announced it on Wednesday at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting of Global Future Leaders, which the UAE Government and the WEF organise. 1 2 Centre · 2The prize is one of three initiatives launched with the WEF. The other two are a centre to turn technological and economic opportunities into policy, and Future 20, which will spotlight 20 people under 30 with the potential to drive change. 2 1

Centre · 2The Gulf News report calls the competition the Global Innovation Challenge and Agentic AI Award. Both outlets say about 10,000 participants across 150 countries are expected to develop solutions; Gulf News describes them as Global Shapers, and The National as changemakers working on smart solutions for urban services. 2 1 Centre · 1The National describes the competition as a collaboration between Dubai Municipality and the WEF, and says it hopes to become a "model for hundreds of cities worldwide". It calls the prize annual. 1 Centre · 2The winner will be announced at the next edition of the meeting, which Gulf News gives as 2027. 1 2

Centre · 2The centre, which The National calls the Centre for Global Future Opportunities and Gulf News the Global Centre for Future Opportunities, will be set up between the Dubai Future Foundation and the WEF according to The National, or through a UAE-WEF partnership according to Gulf News. It is meant to turn opportunities into policies, legislation and projects. 1 2 Centre · 1In his speech Al Gergawi said the UAE-WEF partnership began in 2008. He named three transformations: shifts in the balance of power, rapid advances in technology and AI, and pressure on resources, energy and the climate. He said leaders would need five qualities, including preparing for crises, continuous learning, wisdom in using technology, building partnerships and turning vision into results. 2 Centre · 1He cited more than 60 armed conflicts in 2025, the most since 1946, global military spending of $3 trillion, and global public debt at 94 per cent of GDP in 2025, projected to reach 100 per cent by 2029. 2

Centre · 1Alois Zwinggi, WEF President and CEO and Principal Chairman of the meeting, said it marked a new chapter in the WEF's partnership with the UAE. He said young people want to "shape change with dignity, agency, and purpose" and that cooperation matters most when the world is under pressure. 2 Centre · 1Gulf News says the meeting brings together leaders and entrepreneurs from more than 100 countries and is taking place amid the US-Iran war, which it describes as well into its eighth month and spreading to more countries in the region. 2