AI Companies in Abu Dhabi: Who Does What (2026 Guide)

Key takeaways

G42 is Abu Dhabi’s largest AI group. Its companies include Core42 (sovereign cloud and AI infrastructure), Inception (AI products and the Jais Arabic models), Presight (AI and big data analytics), AIQ (AI for energy), Space42 and Khazna Data Centers.
The Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC) runs the Technology Innovation Institute, which publishes the open-source Falcon models, and set up AI71, which sells AI workspace and agent products to organizations.
MBZUAI, a university dedicated to AI, builds open models such as K2 Think. MGX invests in AI infrastructure, chips and AI companies; it is an investor, not a project supplier.
Before you shortlist, decide what you are buying: compute, a model, a sector platform or a team to build and run a solution. Then check where your data will live, how well Arabic works, how you can buy and who owns what is built.

Abu Dhabi’s AI companies at a glance

The table lists the best-known AI companies and institutions based in Abu Dhabi, grouped by what they do. Descriptions follow each organization’s own website or announcements; the sources are listed at the end.

Company	Group or owner	What it does
G42	Abu Dhabi AI group	Holding group for companies in AI, cloud, data centers, analytics, healthcare, space and cyber security
Core42	G42	Sovereign cloud and AI infrastructure: GPU cloud for training and inference, Microsoft Azure with UAE sovereign controls, and private cloud
Inception	G42	AI products for business and the Jais family of Arabic-English language models
Presight	G42; listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange	AI-powered big data analytics for public services, energy, smart cities, finance and education
AIQ	Joint venture of Presight and ADNOC	AI for the energy sector, including the ENERGYai agentic AI platform
Space42	Listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange	Satellite communications, geospatial analytics and AI, formed from Bayanat and Yahsat
Technology Innovation Institute (TII)	Advanced Technology Research Council	Applied research; publishes the open-source Falcon language and vision models
AI71	Set up by the Advanced Technology Research Council	AI workspace, assistants and agents for enterprises and governments, on premises or in a sovereign cloud
MBZUAI	University	AI research and education; with G42, released the open-source K2 Think reasoning model
MGX	Founded with Mubadala and G42 as foundational partners	Investment company for AI infrastructure, semiconductors and AI technologies
Saal.ai	Abu Dhabi Capital Group	AI and big data platforms, including DigiXT, for government and enterprise
CNTXT AI	Venture-backed	Arabic-first AI data services, custom AI and the Munsit Arabic voice AI platform
Birbal AI	Independent Emirati national company	Agentic AI products, custom AI and software, and AI engineering teams for government and enterprise

G42 and its companies

G42 describes itself as deploying large-scale, AI-powered solutions across industries. Its website lists nine operating companies: AIQ, Astratech, Core42, CPX, Inception, Khazna Data Centers, M42, Presight and Space42. Most buyers deal with one of these companies rather than with G42 itself.

Core42: sovereign cloud and AI infrastructure

Core42 was founded by G42 in 2023 and focuses on sovereign cloud and AI infrastructure. It offers a Sovereign AI Cloud for training, fine-tuning and inference on a choice of accelerators; a Sovereign Public Cloud that runs Microsoft Azure with UAE sovereign and security controls; and Signature Private Cloud in in-country data centers. In short, Core42 provides the infrastructure that AI applications run on.

Inception: AI products and the Jais models

Inception (listed on G42’s site as Inception42) builds AI-native products for business and acts as the core intelligence layer within G42. With MBZUAI and Cerebras it developed Jais, a family of open Arabic-English language models; Jais 70B and 20 other models were released in August 2024.

Presight and AIQ: analytics and energy

Presight, a G42 company listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, provides AI-powered big data analytics. Its TAQ omni-analytics platform serves public services, energy and climate, smart cities, finance and education. AIQ, a joint venture between Presight and ADNOC, applies AI to energy operations; its ENERGYai platform is an agentic AI system built for the energy industry.

Space42, Khazna, M42 and CPX

Space42, formed from the merger of Bayanat and Yahsat and listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, combines satellite communications, geospatial analytics and AI. Khazna runs data centers, M42 is a tech-enabled healthcare company and CPX provides cyber security. All are listed as G42 companies.

Research and models: TII, AI71 and MBZUAI

Abu Dhabi’s Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC) oversees much of the emirate’s research. Its applied research arm, the Technology Innovation Institute (TII), develops the Falcon models, and in November 2023 ATRC launched AI71 to take AI products to market.

TII and Falcon

TII unveiled the first Falcon large language model in March 2023 and has since released Falcon 2, Falcon 3, the Falcon-H1 family, Falcon-H1 Arabic, the Falcon-H1R 7B reasoning model and, in May 2026, Falcon Perception for vision tasks. Falcon models are open source under the TII Falcon License, which is based on Apache 2.0, so organizations can run them on their own servers.

AI71

AI71 describes itself as sovereign AI for organizations. Its main product, Ask, is an AI workspace for finding answers, creating content and automating work with agents, with an API and a mobile app that supports voice in English and Arabic. It can be deployed on premises, in a sovereign or private cloud, or as a hybrid, and AI71 lists banking, government, defense and security, legal, insurance and healthcare among its sectors.

MBZUAI

Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) is a research university dedicated to AI. Its Institute of Foundation Models released the open-source K2 Think reasoning model with G42 in September 2025 and K2 Think V2 in January 2026, and its engineers contributed to the Jais Arabic models.

Policy and investment: AIATC, MGX and Hub71

The Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Technology Council (AIATC), established by law in January 2024, develops and implements Abu Dhabi’s policies and strategies for research, infrastructure and investment in AI and advanced technology.

In March 2024 the council announced MGX, a technology investment company with Mubadala and G42 as foundational partners. MGX invests in AI infrastructure such as data centers and connectivity, in semiconductors, and in AI core technologies and applications. It is an investor, so organizations looking for a supplier will not buy projects from it.

Hub71, Abu Dhabi’s global tech ecosystem, is backed by the Government of Abu Dhabi and Mubadala. Its Hub71+ AI program supports AI startups with partners including AI71, Core42, AWS and Google.

Much of the demand comes from government. Abu Dhabi’s Government Digital Strategy 2025–2027 commits AED 13 billion to digital infrastructure and aims for a fully AI-native government by 2027, with more than 200 AI solutions.

Companies that build and run AI for organizations

Most organizations need more than compute or a model. They need a team that connects AI to their own systems and data, in Arabic and English, and keeps it running after go-live. Besides the groups above, several Abu Dhabi companies do this work:

Saal.ai, part of Abu Dhabi Capital Group, describes itself as a cognitive AI and big data solutions provider headquartered in Abu Dhabi. Its products include the DigiXT enterprise data platform, SovaAI and DataPrism360, for sectors including healthcare, smart cities, finance, energy and defense.
CNTXT AI, an Abu Dhabi data and AI company, prepares training data, builds custom AI and offers Munsit, an Arabic voice AI platform. In June 2026 it acquired Actualize, which builds Arabic voice agents.
Birbal AI, headquartered in Al Zahiya, Abu Dhabi, builds agentic AI products and custom AI for government entities and companies and supplies AI engineers. See where Birbal AI fits.

Presight, AI71 and Inception also deliver projects for clients. Global cloud providers and consultancies have AI teams in the city as well.

How to choose an AI company in Abu Dhabi

Start by deciding what you are buying. The same word, AI, covers four very different purchases:

You need	Look at	Ask
Compute and hosting for your own AI	Sovereign cloud providers and UAE data centers	Where exactly will the data sit, and who can access it?
A model to build on	Open models such as Falcon, Jais or K2 Think, or commercial models	Does the license allow your use, and can it run on your own servers?
A ready-made sector platform	Sector specialists in energy, analytics, space or health	Does it fit your processes, and what will integration cost?
A solution built and run for you	AI development companies	Who has done similar work, in Arabic, for an organization like yours?

Then check six things before you sign:

Where your data will live
Your data classification decides whether AI can use a cloud model or must run on your own servers or in a UAE data center. See the sovereign AI guide.
Arabic that works
Test with your own documents, forms and recorded calls, including Emirati dialect, before you sign. See the Arabic AI voice agents guide.
How you can buy
Government buyers should check that the supplier is registered on the procurement platform they use and holds a valid ICV certificate. See the ICV guide.
Who owns what is built
Agree in the contract who owns fine-tuned models, prompts, integrations and data, and how you can move to another model or supplier.
Who runs it after go-live
AI needs monitoring, updates and support. Ask who answers when something fails, and in which language.
Proof on your own data
Ask for a short pilot on your own cases, with success measures agreed in advance.

Where Birbal AI fits

Birbal AI is an AI company in Abu Dhabi, headquartered in Al Zahiya. We are an Emirati national company, founded in 2022, registered with the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development and holding a National ICV certificate. We build agentic AI products such as Sanafi, Manaa and Nida, develop custom AI and software for government entities and companies, and supply AI engineers, onsite in the UAE or remote.

Our solutions run on customers’ own servers or in UAE data centers, in Arabic and English. Birbal AI is independent of the other companies named in this guide.

Questions and answers

What are the main AI companies in Abu Dhabi?

The best-known are G42 and its companies (Core42, Inception, Presight, AIQ, Space42 and Khazna Data Centers), the Technology Innovation Institute (Falcon models), AI71, MBZUAI and the investment company MGX. Companies such as Saal.ai, CNTXT AI and Birbal AI build and run AI solutions for organizations.

What does G42 do?

G42 is an Abu Dhabi AI group. Its companies cover sovereign cloud and AI infrastructure (Core42), AI products and Arabic models (Inception), analytics (Presight), AI for energy (AIQ), space technology (Space42), data centers (Khazna), healthcare (M42) and cyber security (CPX).

Who makes the Falcon AI models?

The Technology Innovation Institute (TII), the applied research arm of Abu Dhabi’s Advanced Technology Research Council. Falcon models are open source under the TII Falcon License, which is based on Apache 2.0.

What is the difference between TII and AI71?

TII is a research institute that develops the Falcon models. AI71, set up by the Advanced Technology Research Council, sells AI products to organizations, such as its Ask AI workspace and agents.

How do I choose an AI company in Abu Dhabi?

Decide whether you need compute, a model, a sector platform or a team to build and run a solution. Then check where your data will live, how well Arabic works, whether you can buy through your usual procurement channels, who owns what is built and who supports it after go-live.

Is Birbal AI an AI company in Abu Dhabi?

Yes. Birbal AI is an Emirati national AI company headquartered in Al Zahiya, Abu Dhabi, founded in 2022. It builds agentic AI products and custom AI for government and enterprise and supplies AI engineers.

Sources

Birbal AI is an independent company based in Abu Dhabi. Facts about third parties come from the sources above; check them for the latest position.

AI companies in Abu Dhabi: who does what, and how to choose one