AI-NATIVE SOCIETIES: REDEFINING HUMAN PROGRESS AT GITEX GLOBAL 2025
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At GITEX GLOBAL 2025, Sam Altman and Peng Xiao explored how nations can evolve into AI-native societies — equitable, data-driven systems powered by intelligence, innovation, and collaboration.
Key Points
The UAE leads a global shift toward AI-native infrastructure, with OpenAI and G42 unveiling new frameworks for sovereign, large-scale intelligence systems.
Sam Altman called for open and equitable AI adoption, highlighting education, access, and global partnerships as key to avoiding an AI divide.
Artificial intelligence is no longer a frontier — it is fast becoming the foundation upon which societies, economies, and governance systems will evolve.
At GITEX GLOBAL 2025, the world’s largest technology and AI event, the conversation turned to what comes next: AI-native societies — hyper-efficient ecosystems powered by intelligent systems that enable equity, sustainability, and progress at scale.
Hosted at the Dubai World Trade Centre, the event convened over 6,800 enterprises and 2,000 startups from 180 countries, advancing global dialogue on AI infrastructure, policy, and responsible innovation.
From Early Adoption to AI-Native Societies
In one of the week’s most anticipated sessions, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, joined Peng Xiao, Group CEO of G42, to discuss “From Early Adoption to AI-Native Societies: Envisioning the Next Era of Intelligence.”
Their conversation explored how countries can design equitable, data-driven, and sustainable futures built on artificial intelligence — and how the UAE is positioning itself as a global benchmark for this transformation.
Altman commended the UAE’s forward-thinking approach:
“Every country will need an AI strategy — this has to be a top priority for national leaderships. The UAE’s leadership on this has been incredible to see.”
His remarks followed the announcement of OpenAI for Countries, a new initiative enabling governments to build sovereign AI infrastructure — with the UAE as the first global partner.
Peng Xiao elaborated on the vision behind the partnership:
“We are adapting a frontier model — a collective intelligence with Einstein-level reasoning — to serve the full spectrum of society, from healthcare to cybersecurity. This is not a software project; it is a societal utility designed to transform how nations operate.”
Towards Equitable, Open AI
Both leaders underscored the importance of accessibility and education in ensuring a fair, inclusive AI future.
Altman noted:
“To avoid the AI divide, we must make AI open and teach people how to use it — making it available everywhere, for everyone.”
Peng outlined the four success factors for AI-native nations: visionary political leadership, mass education, robust infrastructure, and global partnerships.
“No country or company can do this alone,” he said.
Building the Global Intelligence Grid
The conversation extended to the foundations of nation-scale AI infrastructure, with senior figures from Microsoft, G42, OpenAI, Oracle, Cisco, and others unveiling the vision for a Global Intelligence Grid — an interconnected framework designed to accelerate secure and sovereign AI deployment.
Amr Kamel, General Manager of Microsoft UAE, emphasised:
“Scale and sovereignty are at the heart of our collaboration. AI must be inclusive — a technology that empowers governments, industries, and individuals alike.”
Alliances That Shape the Future
The dialogue continued under the Stargate UAE initiative — a multi-company, multi-government undertaking led by G42, bringing together Oracle Cloud, Cisco infrastructure, and OpenAI’s frontier models to power large-scale AI systems.
Rod Solaimani, OpenAI’s Head of Policy and Partnerships for the MENA region, captured the vision succinctly:
“AGI should benefit all of humanity. The UAE has been the thought partner helping us explore how this technology can be deployed meaningfully and inclusively.”
Reimagining Education in the Age of AI
Beyond infrastructure and governance, GITEX also addressed AI’s transformative role in education.
Professor Ekaterina Kochmar from MBZUAI noted that while AI will augment learning systems, it will never replace human connection.
“AI is here to help humans — to empower teachers, not replace them. Communication and collaboration remain essential.”
A Global Convergence of Intelligence
GITEX 2025 marked a turning point — where intelligence became infrastructure.
The conversation is no longer about adopting AI, but about architecting societies and industries around it. Precision, equity, and imagination will define what comes next.
We attended GITEX GLOBAL 2025 to explore how emerging technologies are redefining the boundaries between creativity and computation — a vision that sits at the core of everything we do.
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