Jenna Kleinwort, DW, How the Iran war has disrupted Abu Dhabi’s AI strategy, 26 Jun 2026
“”Despite massive investments, much of the region’s AI ecosystem continues to rely on foundational models, algorithms and benchmarks developed elsewhere, making it a consumer rather than a primary producer,” Fatima Abu Salem, a professor of computer science at the American University of Beirut, told DW. “This dependence is reinforced by reliance on expatriate expertise and foreign academic institutions for advanced research, training and validation.””
