UAE Deepens US Technology Cooperation Across AI, Cybersecurity and Quantum Computing

The UAE is deepening technology cooperation with the United States across artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, space, quantum computing and advanced science as the country strengthens international partnerships around strategic technologies.

Omran Sharaf, Assistant Foreign Minister for Advanced Science and Technology, led a UAE delegation to Washington for meetings with senior US government officials, research institutions, think tanks and technology companies.

The delegation included Dr Mohamed Al Kuwaiti, Head of the UAE Government Cybersecurity Council, and Dr Mohamed Alkhemairi, Executive Director of the Research and Development Ecosystem at the Advanced Technology Research Council, alongside representatives from the UAE Space Agency and Space42.

Sharaf met Michael Kratsios, Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, to discuss opportunities to advance the bilateral technology partnership and developments across science and technology.

The breadth of the delegation is notable because it brings together government, cybersecurity, research and commercial space capabilities. That reflects the increasingly interconnected nature of strategic technology policy, where AI, computing, cybersecurity and space infrastructure can overlap.

For the UAE economy, advanced technology has become an important component of diversification and investment policy. The country is committing capital to AI infrastructure and companies while building research capabilities and seeking international partnerships that can support technology transfer and commercial development.

US cooperation is particularly important because American companies and research institutions remain central to global AI, semiconductor, cloud-computing and advanced-technology supply chains. Access to partnerships, expertise and technology can therefore influence the speed at which emerging technology ecosystems develop.

Cybersecurity is also an economic issue as financial institutions, government services and companies become more digitally dependent. Increased adoption of AI and cloud infrastructure expands opportunities but also raises requirements for secure systems and trusted data environments.

Quantum computing remains at an earlier commercial stage but is attracting investment globally because of its potential long-term applications in materials science, optimisation, security and other computationally intensive fields.

The Washington meetings did not announce a specific investment value. Their significance lies instead in strengthening institutional connections across several technologies that the UAE considers strategically important. Future agreements, research partnerships and commercial projects will determine how the diplomatic engagement translates into economic activity.