Firms lag as AI-driven fraud surges: Study

• Among the fastest-growing threats is deepfake-enabled social engineering.
• The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have the potential to take a leading role in next-generation fraud prevention.

The shift from innovative to native: Unlocking where real AI value lies

MEA market decision-making cycle is fast but risk-averse: Ralph Melis 

• The real shift is that AI becomes the interface. Users no longer need technical knowledge or experience navigating complex systems.
• They simply prompt their way forward—asking natural-language questions and receiving accurate comparisons, recommendations, and insights instantly.

Dubai moves from importing innovation to exporting it, says Future Solutions Head

• Dubai Future Solutions connects student innovators with government, industry and investors, offering year-round support until technologies are validated and ready for funding.
• The program evaluates submissions based on global impact, depth of academic research, and effective use of technology to address social or environmental challenges.

Meta, YouTube face trial over children harm

• The case may influence thousands of lawsuits alleging social media features harmed young users’ mental health and wellbeing.
• Meta and YouTube have denied the allegations, saying they have implemented tools and policies aimed at improving safety for younger users.

GCC as the bridge in a fragmented global ad tech market

• The industry is effectively “two industries” — a fast-growing digital sector and a declining traditional media business — Martin Sorrell told TRENDS
• CMOs should stop experimenting with AI and move to full-scale implementation, radically reorganising workflows and cutting creative costs, he adds

Battle of the Tech Hubs

• The GCC smart cities and digital transformation market reached $145.5 billion in 2024 and is expected to reach $907 billion by 2032.
• Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala, for instance, was the largest sovereign-owned investor globally in 2024, deploying $29 billion across 52 deals, a 67 percent increase from the previous year.

UAE Innovation Month: Why 2026 is the year of the agentic enterprise

• AI adoption is surging, but enterprises are stuck in “pilot purgatory”, failing to scale isolated AI experiments into orchestrated, ROI-driven systems
• The shift to an Agentic Enterprise requires multi-agent orchestration, shared enterprise context, and strong governance, especially as GCC regulations tighten

SoftBank lifts OpenAI stake to 11% with $41bln investment

• Having made colossal profits as well as losses on previous investments, flamboyant founder Masayoshi Son has pivoted SoftBank towards artificial intelligence (AI).
• SoftBank had announced in April its planned investment of up to $40 billion in Open AI, and on Wednesday it said that the second tranche of $22.5 billion was completed.

Fake AI videos have a new generation loving 1980s life

• The fake montage -- entirely generated using artificial intelligence -- has racked up more than 600,000 "likes" on Instagram and is part of an internet fad known as "AI nostalgia."
• The soft-focused fantasy land comes thanks to generative AI tools like OpenAI's Sora, Google's Veo or Luma AI's Ray that enable creation of strikingly realistic videos