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Amira Khalil

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  • Press Release

PUBLISHED BY ICN PRESS

AIREV has announced that Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Foreign Trade, has assumed the chairmanship of the Board of Directors of the UAE-based AI company behind OnDemand, a sovereign-grade agentic AI operating system engineered in the UAE and deployed in markets worldwide.

The move aligns one of the country’s flagship technology companies with the national trade agenda, as the UAE works to expand its export base into high-value digital and AI services.

Al Zeyoudi’s new position reflects the growing role of advanced technologies and digital services within the UAE’s foreign trade strategy, following a record year for the country’s non-oil trade performance.

Al Zeyoudi said the growth of AI in the UAE through companies such as AIREV reflects the next stage of the country’s export ambitions. “The UAE has built one of the world’s most dynamic trading economies, and our next frontier is to export not only goods and services, but homegrown technology and the intellectual property behind it. AIREV is a UAE company whose sovereign platform and agentic solutions have earned the validation of leading global technology firms and now travels into the world’s most demanding markets. I look forward to supporting the company as it scales, ensuring its growth contributes directly to our national goal of increasing non-oil exports and consolidating the UAE’s position as a hub for advanced industries.”

AIREV entered the UAE market through the NextGen FDI initiative and was anchored by Core42, a G42 company, in February 2024. In the roughly two and a half years since, it has grown into a production-grade agentic operating system carrying a valuation of approximately US$200 million.

Its flagship platform, OnDemand, is a no- and low-code operating system for building, deploying, and managing autonomous AI agents. The platform is designed to run wherever a customer requires, giving governments and regulated enterprises full control over their data, models, and infrastructure. OnDemand serves more than four million AI-first users worldwide and offers over 300 specialised agents and tools across more than 50 languages.

Over the past year, AIREV has established a network of strategic partnerships spanning the global AI and semiconductor ecosystem. The company entered a strategic partnership with Intel to optimise OnDemand for Intel processors and subsequently to bring autonomous AI agents to Intel’s next-generation AI PCs. It also entered a partnership with US chip company Tenstorrent to co-develop a high-performance agentic AI stack for enterprise and sovereign applications, launching a dedicated Agentic AI Development Node in the UAE.

Working through the private sector, AIREV has registered OnDemand for the North American market and built a distribution pipeline reaching from Abu Dhabi into the United States technology economy – the first time a UAE software company has combined silicon certification, hardware pre-install, and US-market registration in a single, self-reinforcing motion. The scale of that activity is measured in throughput: across 2025, AIREV’s products collectively surpassed one trillion tokens, a first among GCC technology companies at that scale, and in the second quarter of 2026 alone reached 6.8 trillion, roughly a sixfold increase. Each token generated abroad represents a unit of UAE-engineered intelligence delivered into a foreign market.

The company’s capital base reflects the same export thesis. Alongside Core42, AIREV has attracted inbound investment from VentureWave Capital, one of Ireland’s leading venture firms, together with Titian Capital, and is currently progressing a Series A2 funding round. On the distribution side, Redington, one of the largest technology distributors across the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia, has been appointed as AIREV’s distributor for 2026 to 2027 with planned expansion into Europe, giving OnDemand an established channel reach at scale.

Muhammad Khalid, Founder and CEO of AIREV, said the chairmanship gives the company an exceptional platform for global growth. “To have Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi as Chairman is an important moment on AIREV’s journey by linking the UAE’s foreign trade strategy of expanding the nation’s network of partners with a company that exports developed technology to markets around the world. Together, we will continue to prove that Emirati AI is not only globally viable, but globally exportable.”

AIREV’s growth reflects a wider shift that the UAE’s trade strategy is working to accelerate: moving the country from an importer of advanced technology to an exporter of it. By embedding UAE-engineered software inside certified global hardware and carrying it outward through established enterprise and government channels, every OnDemand deployment abroad converts domestic software engineering into non-oil export value – the highest-margin and fastest-compounding category of the diversification mandate set out in the ‘We the UAE 2031’ vision.

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Dubai Press Club announces leading national institutions

As preparations continue for the Arab Media Summit 2026, the Dubai Press Club (DPC), organiser of the event, has announced that nine leading national institutions have joined the list of partners for this year’s edition, WAM published the announcement.

Scheduled to take place from 15th to 17th September 2026, the Summit will be held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and under the directives of H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Second Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Media Council.

The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) was announced as Mobility Partner; Dubai Chambers as Global Commerce Partner; Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC Group) as Energy Partner; Dubai Customs as Trade and Economic Partner; Emirates as Airline Partner; Emirates NBD as Banking Partner; Dubai Courts as Leading Partner; Dubai Municipality as Future City Partner; and Emirates Integrated Telecom Company (du) as Telecommunication Partner.

Mona Ghanem Al Marri, Vice Chairperson and Managing Director of the Dubai Media Council, President of the Dubai Press Club, and Chairperson of the Arab Media Summit Organising Committee, highlighted the importance of the partnerships, noting that they reflect a deep understanding of the media’s role in shaping societies and guiding them towards the future, as well as the significance of the Arab Media Summit as the region’s largest media gathering.

She said, “Our national institutions have helped build an exceptional success story that has earned global recognition and strengthened Dubai’s soft power worldwide. We are pleased to partner with a distinguished group of organisations that have contributed to shaping this inspiring story.”

Al Marri added, “These partnerships reflect a clear recognition of the media’s value in advancing development and a commitment to extending its positive influence across the Arab world. By advancing a competitive and forward-looking approach grounded in professionalism, integrity and strong ethical values, Arab media can deliver impactful content that helps audiences keep pace with global progress and inspires them to play an active role in shaping the future.”

Mattar Al Tayer, Director General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), affirmed that the media is a key partner in the development journey, contributing to knowledge transfer, raising public awareness, showcasing achievements, and keeping pace with economic, social and technological transformations. He noted that the Arab Media Summit serves as a vital platform for dialogue, the exchange of expertise, and exploring the potential of modern technologies and artificial intelligence to advance media content, enhance the competitiveness of Arab media, and strengthen its readiness for the future.

Al Tayer said, “RTA’s continued partnership with the Summit reflects the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, which recognises the media as an active partner in achieving sustainable development. It also reinforces Dubai’s pioneering position as a leading hub for Arab media, bringing together media figures, decision-makers and experts to shape the future of the sector and address rapid digital and technological transformations.”

He further emphasised that the partnership highlights the vital integration between the media and transport sectors. Dubai’s sustainable and integrated transport system plays a key role in advancing the emirate’s development, strengthening its capacity to host major events, and ensuring seamless and safe mobility for participants and visitors.

Eng. Marwan Ahmed bin Ghalita, Director General of Dubai Municipality, said, “Leading cities of the future are not built on infrastructure and technology alone, but through an integrated urban ecosystem that places people, awareness and knowledge at its core. This is where the media plays a vital role in raising public awareness of the transformations reshaping our cities and the way we live.”

He added, “Today, the media is a key partner in shaping and sharing the inspiring success stories of the UAE and Dubai with the world. It contributes to reinforcing Dubai’s approach and message as a city driven by action and achievement, and as a destination that attracts leading minds, innovators and talent to shape the future. We are proud to be the Future City Partner of the Arab Media Summit, a partnership that reflects Dubai Municipality’s commitment to supporting an exceptional platform that originated in Dubai to anticipate the future of media, shape its direction across the Arab world, and bring together prominent Arab media leaders and influential voices capable of advancing an ambitious Arab narrative around cities that are more sustainable and offer a higher quality of life.”

Mohammad Ali Rashed Lootah, President and CEO of Dubai Chambers, said, “Effective economic media serves as a vital link between markets, opportunities and the business community. It plays an important role in building confidence and strengthening cities’ positions as global centres for trade and investment. Our partnership with the Arab Media Summit reflects Dubai Chambers’ commitment to supporting platforms that bring together thought leaders and prominent figures from the media and business sectors. It also contributes to highlighting Dubai’s promising opportunities, advancing the objectives of the Dubai Economic Agenda D33, and reinforcing the emirate’s position as a global business hub.”

Dr. Abdullah Busenad, Director General of Dubai Customs, said, “The Arab Media Summit serves as an important platform for highlighting the media’s role in deepening public understanding of economic transformations and showcasing the importance of trade in driving growth and creating opportunities. Our partnership with the Summit as Trade and Economic Partner reflects Dubai Customs’ commitment to enabling trade, strengthening business confidence and enhancing economic competitiveness. These efforts support the objectives of the Dubai Economic Agenda D33 and further consolidate Dubai’s position as a leading global hub for trade and investment.”

Saif Ghanem Al Suwaidi, Director General of Dubai Courts, affirmed that Dubai Courts’ participation as Leading Partner at the Arab Media Summit 2026 reflects its belief in collaboration between judicial and media institutions and the media’s role in raising public awareness and expanding access to legal knowledge.

He said, “The Arab Media Summit is a leading platform that brings together media leaders, decision-makers and experts. We are proud of our partnership with the Dubai Press Club in an event that has established itself as a platform for dialogue and shaping the future of regional media.

“Our partnership recognises the media as an effective partner in building a more informed society. Dubai Courts continues to support initiatives that combine specialised expertise and media capabilities to present legal and judicial knowledge through innovative approaches, while developing purposeful, reliable content that reflects Dubai’s aspirations and global standing.”

Hesham Abdulla Al Qassim, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Emirates NBD Group, said, “Emirates NBD is pleased to reaffirm its support for the Arab Media Summit 2026 as Banking Partner. As a homegrown financial institution, we remain committed to empowering the media sector, recognising its critical role in shaping the future and narrative of our region. As the region’s largest media gathering, the Summit provides a key platform for media professionals from across the Arab world to connect, exchange ideas, and discuss the most pressing challenges and opportunities facing the industry. We look forward to this year’s edition and its new format, which uniquely brings together multiple specialised forums and related events under a single, unified platform.”

Hussain Sultan Lootah, Group CEO of ENOC Group, said, “Dubai’s journey towards the future is underpinned by an integrated framework built on vision, innovation, sustainability and effective cross-sector partnerships. The Arab Media Summit is an influential platform for highlighting the media’s role in addressing the major transformations shaping the world, including the future of energy and sustainability. We are pleased to serve as the Summit’s Energy Partner and contribute to a more informed Arab dialogue on the issues shaping the economy of the future.”

Fahad Al Hassawi, CEO of du, said, “The media shapes how societies see themselves and how they are perceived by the world. Technology is amplifying this role, enabling ideas to cross borders, connect cultures and reach audiences in unprecedented ways. Through our partnership with the Arab Media Summit, we look forward to supporting a platform that brings together media, technology and innovation, while fostering meaningful discussions on the future of content, artificial intelligence and digital platforms, and their role in building a more influential media sector.”

Boutros Boutros, Executive Vice President of Corporate Communications, Marketing and Brand at Emirates Airline & Group, said, “Dubai has long served as a meeting point for the world, connecting people, cultures and ideas. The media is one of the most important bridges supporting these connections. Our partnership with the Arab Media Summit reflects our continued commitment to major initiatives that reach the world from Dubai, strengthen its presence as a global city that brings together talent, ideas and creativity, and create new opportunities for communication and influence.”

Reinforcing Dubai’s Position as a Media Hub

Maryam Al Mulla, Director of the Dubai Press Club, expressed her sincere appreciation to the Summit’s partners for their valued role in this year’s edition.

She said, “Working as one team towards shared objectives is deeply embedded in Dubai’s approach and has contributed to its exceptional achievements across sectors. This collaborative spirit continues to reinforce the emirate’s position as a centre for thought leadership and a hub for shaping the future.”

Al Mulla added: “Over the past two decades, Dubai has steadily strengthened its position as a leading regional media hub, supported by the region’s largest and most dynamic professional media community.”

The 2026 edition of the Arab Media Summit is supported by a total of 13 leading entities and institutions. Previously announced partners include DP World as Strategic Partner; Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) as Sustainability Strategic Partner; National Media Authority as National Partner; and the Mohamed and Obaid Almulla Group and American Hospital Dubai as Strategic Healthcare Partner. They are joined by the nine new leading national entities announced as partners for this year’s edition.

The partnerships announced for the 2026 edition reinforce the Arab Media Summit’s role as a platform for constructive dialogue, knowledge exchange and cross-sector collaboration. They also reflect Dubai’s ability to bring together leading government entities, national institutions and businesses in support of initiatives with regional and global impact.

The upcoming Arab Media Summit will be the largest edition yet. This year, the Summit will bring together a diverse range of specialised events, including the Arab Media Forum, the Government Communication Forum, the Arab Youth Media Forum, the Arab Social Media Influencers Summit, the Films Forum, the Games Forum, and the Dubai PodFest, alongside several international media forums.

The Summit will also continue to recognise excellence and emerging talent through the Arab Media Award, which marks its silver jubilee this year, the Arab Social Media Influencers Award, and the Ibda’a – Arab Youth Media Award.

  • 10–12 min read
Alibaba eyes AI infrastructure spending
  • Data Centers

Alibaba AI infrastructure spending is climbing again, and the company wants shareholders to fund it. The Chinese ecommerce and cloud group is selling HK$80 billion of new shares, roughly $10.2 billion, with every dollar of net proceeds going into its full-stack AI capabilities. That covers chips, data centres, and the models running on top of them. The Alibaba share placement is the largest primary follow-on offering ever from a Hong Kong-listed company. Globally it ranks third this year, behind Alphabet and Intel.

Pricing tells you how the market took it. Alibaba set 710 million new shares at HK$112.70 each, against a Friday close of HK$123. Hong Kong-listed shares dropped as much as 10 percent on Monday. Buyers at the discount get exposure to the buildout. Existing holders get dilution and a longer wait for returns. US investors were excluded from the deal.

The numbers behind the raise

Alibaba AI capex hit 67.7 billion yuan in the June quarter, up 75 percent from a year earlier. Net profit fell by the same proportion over that period, to roughly $1.5 billion, and free cash outflow reached $6.6 billion. Alibaba AI infrastructure spending sits inside a three-year plan worth at least 380 billion yuan, and the company says it has already spent close to half. CEO Eddie Wu told analysts the compute capacity has to exist before the growth can be captured.

Revenue is arriving behind the bill. Alibaba Cloud revenue from AI and compute services rose 45 percent to 48.44 billion yuan in the quarter, the fastest pace in 22 quarters. Payback on AI-related investment is now expected in about 2.5 years, down from three.

What Alibaba AI infrastructure spending means for you

Hold the stock, and you absorb the dilution today for capacity that pays later, if the demand holds. Build with AI in Asia, and the calculation flips, because more compute usually means cheaper inference and stronger models. The Qwen AI model family sits at the centre of that trade. Alibaba released Qwen 3.8-Max weeks ago, and early benchmarking points to strength in agentic coding, where bots write and repair code from high-level instructions.

China AI investment runs hot

This raise lands in a market already paying up. Chipmaker CXMT pulled in $8.6 billion at listing, and its shares rose 466 percent on debut. Humanoid robotics group Unitree raised $900 million last week, with shares climbing more than 600 percent on day one after retail demand topped 5,500 times the available allotment. Moonshot’s Kimi K3 launch last month added to the mood. China AI investment at these valuations carries real risk if earnings arrive slowly.

Washington is still a problem

Regulation shapes the rest of the story. The Pentagon in June returned Alibaba to a blacklist of Chinese companies treated as a national security risk, alongside Baidu and BYD, citing alleged links to the People’s Liberation Army. Alibaba has asked a US court to overturn the order. The company denies any PLA ties and rejects the claim it takes part in military fusion, where civilian industry works with the state defence sector. Xi Jinping and Donald Trump meet in the US next week, their second summit this year, with export controls and technology restrictions on the agenda. What comes out of that room decides how far Alibaba AI infrastructure spending can travel outside China.

  • 3 min read
AED1.5 billion in Media contracts
  • Media

Mada Media closed the first half of 2026 with AED1.5 billion in Media contracts, covering 683 advertising assets across Dubai. The company organises, develops and manages the emirate’s out-of-home advertising sector. Eighty local and regional advertising companies entered the tenders held during the period. Earlier company figures put first-quarter contract value at AED971.3 million, which places most of the half-year total in the opening three months.

Inside the asset list

Tendered inventory included 27 digital unipoles and 20 bridge banners. Six of those banners are digital, and 14 are static. Four static hoardings went to tender as well, along with displays on lighting poles and flags. Mada Media spread the sites across main districts and high-traffic roads, which widens the range of price points open to bidders. Advertisers pay for reach, and reach in Dubai OOH advertising follows the road network. A bridge banner on a commuter corridor carries a different value to a pole display on a side street, and the tender structure reflects that.

What the AED1.5 billion in Media contracts covers

Beyond site leases, the AED1.5 billion in Media contracts commits operators to converting a large share of static sites into screens. That shift moves the market further towards digital out-of-home advertising, the format now leading growth across the Gulf. Mordor Intelligence values the UAE digital out-of-home market at about 62.6 million dollars for 2026, with annual growth near 13 percent. PwC has estimated Dubai holds 73 percent of the country’s out-of-home market. Screens also change the sales model. Static sites sell time in weeks. Digital sites sell it in seconds, and inventory can be traded programmatically, which brings automated buying into a sector long run on fixed leases.

A tender written for smaller firms

The AED1.5 billion in Media contracts headline sits alongside a quieter piece of the programme. Mada Media ran a separate tender open only to emerging national companies registered with the Mohammed Bin Rashid Establishment for Small and Medium Enterprises Development, known as Dubai SME. Eighteen firms took part in that round, the first of its kind. The design is a governance choice rather than a commercial one. By ring-fencing a slice of inventory, the regulator decides that market share in a licensed sector should not settle only with the largest bidders.

Matar Al Tayer, Chairman of Mada Media, said, “The participation of 80 local and regional advertising companies in the tenders launched by the company is an indication of the expanding investor base and strong demand for the investment opportunities offered by the sector.”

Metro naming rights and the wider plan

Mada Media signed two Dubai Metro naming rights agreements for Red Line stations, one with a local brand and one, for the first time, with a global brand. Names and financial terms have not been released. Mansoor Al Sabahi, CEO of Mada Media, said the company is also extending Dubai Metro naming rights across the Green Line. He added, “Since the company was established, we have focused on building a regulatory and operational ecosystem based on transparency, streamlined procedures, and enhanced efficiency in the management and operation of advertising assets.”

Both the tender programme and the AED1.5 billion in Media contracts feed into the Dubai Economic Agenda D33 and the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan. Those plans treat street advertising as public infrastructure, licensed and priced by the state rather than left to open competition for space. Who controls the screens, and on what terms, is a policy question as much as a revenue one.

  • 3 min read
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